Fallen Star (Element Evil V)
by EternityBlue77
Summary: The Elite Team face their greatest threat not only to the world they fought to protect, but to themselves. Alliances will be tested. Fourth walls will be broken. And nothing will ever be the same. (Rated M for a few scenes in the story.)
1. Prologue

The General cast a careful glance over his shoulder before retreating into the Oregon forest. He felt the Rebel Headquarters presence fade away behind him. The air was humid and moist, the scent of rain drifting through the air. The trees felt cool, and once in a while a plop of cold water hit his arms through the uniform. A peel of thunder rolled in the distance, abruptly shattering the comfortable silence. Dark storm clouds gathered together above him. The leaves rustled with the icy breeze.  
The General held his arms and shivered. Ever since giving up Element Evil, he'd never gotten used to living without them, even with the years of military training under his belt. They meant nothing after he'd gotten used to Element Evil. There were some days when he wished he'd never given them up, and was better off dead. Even through his rebel uniform, he still felt the chill nipping at the air.  
His eyes roamed through the vacant woods. He called her name. No response but the howling winds.  
Another growl of thunder.  
Grounding his teeth, he pressed on through the arctic-like chill, winding his way through the forest. After the Mind Worm and the Presence had been defeated, global warming ceased immediately, and the glaciers were restored. If he didn't know any better, he would've worried that the Earth would freeze into another Ice Age from too much heat reduction. Or perhaps he was just used to the Texas heat that seemed to rise from the ground itself.  
There. Overhead.  
A barbed wire fence weaved through the cool trees. The gate hung open by one of it's hinges, creaking ominously with the wind.  
The General stepped inside, passing through an invisible barrier. A threshold.  
He checked his memory. Everything from the previous events were still intact. He felt the slightest twinge of guilt for the rest of the team. He felt a calling - a need to tell them the truth, but that was impossible at this point. And he wasn't going to drag them through another round of hell. Not anymore.  
In the center of the field, circled by a barbed wire fence, a sphere of stardust and light took form into a tree. It's gnarly branches and roots twisted into the sky. It radiated the five senses. It smelled of incense, sounded like firecrackers and bells, felt like the heat of a thousand suns, and the harshest breeze of a frozen tundra, looked like a tree of pure starlight and galaxies, and gave the air a salty taste like the sea.  
The General removed his beret. The aura of the area demanded silence and respect. He approached the tree, feeling a familiar heartbeat radiating from it. As if it were alive.  
He dared a step forward and placed his hand on the trunk. He felt the presence of the very person that changed him. That changed everything. The person who redeemed him from the addiction and anger that had been manifesting inside him ever since he could remember. His eyes flicked up to the sky as rain pounded against the damp soil, but the area around the sacred tree remained dry.  
The General spoke, but his voice was drowned out by the sharp sound of rain that fell in heavy sheets. "I remember you."


	2. Chapter 1

p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior's eyes remained glued to the monitors, as they had been for the entirety of the day. He leaned over and inquired one of the guards, "So they can't notice a thing."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Nobody but you, sir. Your private satellite gives you full access to every image on Earth, in real-time. Nobody can know."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Excellent." The Superior smiled. Owning technology such as this was illegal, especially now that the Resource War was over. But the Superior was the richest man on Earth. Not bad for someone in his late twenties. Of course, he wasn't always twenty. Back when he had Element Evil, he took advantage of it's anti-aging perks. It felt great to be young again, but reversing his social security files were a hassle./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nobody knew he existed, except for the government of course, who were generous enough to provide him with full closure on international security for any amount of money. The government didn't run the country. He did. He was a rich man, but he didn't want just money. He wanted power. More power. He wanted power beyond even his own comprehension. It was like a hunger - a famine that grew inside him until it breached the surface and pierced past him, eventually reaching the world around him as well./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" A smile performed on his face as he glanced back at the screen monitors. That woman—what was her name…?—Nox. She was in the training room, along with that Hyrbid. A hybrid of an Ancient, a Descendant, and a mortal. The first of it's kind. Nox pointed at several targets, and a smile performed in the girl's face as she thrust out her hands, power coursing through them and blasting into the targets. But he saw no sadism in her eyes. No anger or hatred. Only enthusiasm and light. It sickened him./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He sighed and shook his head. So sad that such a useful thing would go to waste. She should be trained to kill./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Then, his eyes rested on Nox's figure as she pumped her hands into the air in celebration./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior smirked, his heart pounding. The woman may have lost her powers, but she still has the blood of an Ancient. If she were capable of bringing a child as powerful as this into the world… He uttered an animal-like growl from the back of his throat, a gleam in his eyes. Colliding intentions raged through his mind./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He might even let the Elite Rebels live so he could revel in the helpless turmoil it would cause them to know that he possessed the girl utterly. Yes. Capturing them and making them watch as he subdued the girl would be highly pleasurable. At least then, more special Hyrbids would be brought into the world. He ran his tongue along his bottom lip./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Then, his smile fell./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The swordsman entered the room, his hair cut short and tied back into a bun, his sword hanging lazily between his shoulder blades. Something inside him shattered while he watched as he pressed his lips to hers, whispering incomprehensible words. The Superior curled his hands into fists, clenching his teeth. The wench was married to that bastard swordsman. He didn't deserve her./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He forced himself to calm down, stroking his chin. emA pity. I was looking forward to making them watch as I took possession of the girl for life. No matter. Just because she/emem's in possession of another doesn't mean I can still get—/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Sir," A guard stood in the doorway. "It's 5 o'clock."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior checked his watch. "Ah, yes. I did say I was going to do it, didn't I?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He ran his fingers across the monitor, memorizing every detail of the exotic girl before exiting. Once he entered the lab, he ordered all guards and scientists to leave him, leaving the keys behind./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior plucked the keys, tossing them between his hands, nonchalant as he approached an unopened portal. His scientists and researchers had been able to get it partially open, but those who journey to the other side lose their lives. A useless feat, since there emwas/em someone on the other side he needed emalive./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He'd seen her before through very few images. She was old enough to bring a child into the world—or at least he assumed that—but even he didn't fully understand her power. Having Nox bear his child sounded much more powerful and pleasurable than with the other one./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He rammed the key into the portal, and it sparked to life, like lighting a candle./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" A golden tree made of stardust and light took form in the center of the portal./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior smirked, then moved to the opposite side of the lab. Of course. The abandoned experiment. Why he'd never thought of this before, he didn't know. And he also didn't know why none of his own scientists never came up with the idea. He made sure to remember to slit some of their throats for not telling him about such a perfect idea sooner./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He was grateful he hadn't gotten rid of the test subject yet. He knew he would come in as useful to him someday./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior entered a series of numbers into the cryo-chamber. Steam rolled off the sides of gthe chamber as the lid slid open like a glass door./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" A familiar sleeping figure lay within. Horns protruded from his forehead. When he awakened, steely, cobalt blue eyes pierced through the mist./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"The Superior smiled. "Welcome back to the world of the living. Arthur."/p 


	3. Chapter 2

p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius watched as Angel leaped through the forest, raw power coursing through her like adrenaline. The only time she'd been let out of the base was for training, and even then it was only for a short time. With unfathomable power like hers existing on Earth, they couldn't risk taking her outside./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" It was midday. The sun was just beginning to set over the horizon, setting the sky ablaze with orange and purple hues. The canopy of the trees shaded the ground in semi-darkness, though./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Now, Lloyd and Nox were gone to spend time alone. And the team had to watch over Angel./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The leaves trembled and shuddered in an icy cold wind. Winter was just upon them. The ground was damp, above the mountains overhead, storm clouds picked up cold water from the cascading streams, darkening. He calculated that they'd have at least five minutes before it began raining. He could already smell it approaching./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He attempted to call out to let Angel know they had to head back inside. Just because Angel still had her powers, didn't mean Etrius was immortal as well. But one look at the enthusiasm on her face dissolved any words./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" At first, Etrius thought that bringing a new addition to the team would only slow them down. But after seeing her progression and willingness to fight and use her power, he'd taken a liking to her. She reminded him a bit of himself and Josiah when they were young. The memories brought a smile to his face. A smile that nobody had seen from him in a long time, and he was glad that nobody was around to see him./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius watched, breathless as Angel walked across the grass, leaving behind budding flowers and bushes that rose from the ground. She was the first Ancient, Descendant Hybrid. An immortal. He sighed. Neither Nox nor Lloyd were immortal. Nobody was. She would watch her own parents grow old and die, followed by the rest of the team. She would continue on in life, watching as the world changed around her. Perhaps she would see the next resource war./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius seized her waist, hoisting her into the air and sitting her on his shoulders. "Uuurg… Angel, you're seven years old. Think you can lend me some of that power so I can carry you again like before?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Angel laughed gleefully, bringing a chuckle out of Etrius. Lloyd was like a brother to him, so he vowed to protect his kid with his life. He never thought the feeling would be this refreshing. All his life, he knew he was missing something… A hollow, vacant part of him that would never be mended. It took him a while to realize Angel's intervention in his life mended that gaping hole./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" After a moment's silence passed, Angel looked down at Etrius. "Uncle Etrius?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Mm."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Am I ever going to see the team again?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius' brow furrowed. "Why would you ask something like that?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Angel propped her chin against his head. "I heard dad talking about it. He said that you quit one time, and mum and dad want to do the same thing."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius' eyes darted everywhere before coming to a stop at Angel, who gazed at him with golden eyes above him. He shut his eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry, Angel. It's not up to me to decide. But Nox and Lloyd only want the best for you. I'm sure that whatever they decide to do, is for your sake."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He had a pretty good idea of what Nox and Lloyd were going to do. Now that Angel knew how to harness her power, they were going to go undercover. Hide away from the world so Angel could get a chance at a normal life, and so she could never be hunted down for her power and bloodline./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Something growled in the sky./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius' breath froze inside him. That was emnot/em thunder./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Something large and powerful roared over their heads, piercing through the skies. Dark helicopters zoomed right over their heads, radiating wind so strong that some tree branches snapped off./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "What the fuck?" Etrius breathed./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Angel covered her mouth. "You said a bad word…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Tell me about it. Let's get out of here." He tried to keep his voice leveled so Angel wouldn't panic, but he was breathing heavily. Angel may be immortal, but he wasn't. Not anymore. If he died, Angel would be alone, and possibly captured. He needed to be careful. No more fecklessly busting into problems./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" As he searched for a good place to hide in the forest, where trees were crying droplets of rainwater from their canopies, he bit his lip. Even before he had Element Evil in his system, he still ran recklessly into things. Back then, he had his team, and backup at any time. Now, he was alone with a Hyrbid containing unimaginable power. Things were not going well./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The sound of the choppers had faded away into the distance./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius scanned the skies, but they were empty. Rain cascaded from above, almost resembling a giant bowl of air and water. "The coast is clear."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Angel gasped./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius seized her small hand. "What?" He set her own. "Angel, what is it?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Angel wasn't responding. She was just staring into the shadows ahead of them. The sun had descended behind the mountains by now, and a new moon was out, so the forest was shrouded in darkness./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius's eyes peered through the shadows, but he neither saw nor heard anything. Had he still had the gift of Element Evil, he could've easily spotted what lay ahead of them./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "What do you see, Angel? A bear?" His mind traveled back to a time when he was still young and living with his younger brother, Josiah. They watched from behind their house window as a grizzly bear rocked their car, smelling food inside./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He hadn't been out in the Oregon forest long enough to spot any bears, but he knew for a fact that they lived out here. Only, a bear would've been scared away from the chopper noises by now. What was Angel looking at?/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Then, Etrius saw it./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" A red light sliced the darkness, aiming for Angel's chest./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" His breath froze inside him. Before he could shout out a warning, he grabbed Angel and hurled them both to the ground. A bullet sailed over them, shattering a tree trunk./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Men shouted all around them. They leaped from the shadows, aiming technologically advanced weapons. Far more advanced than anything they had in the base. Etrius recognized their armor uniform emblem immediately. They were the Superior's men./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius kept Angel behind him, hefting two weapons of his own - Uzis. The same weapons he'd brought with him to the second castle. Although seeing the weapons the Superior's men held, fighting back didn't really matter. He glanced at Angel who stood, her height barely reaching his knee. A Hybrid. An immortal. She cast him an enthusiastic glance. "Can I fight now?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" One of the Superior's men screamed out at them. "DROP YOUR WEAPONS, HAND OVER THE CHILD, AND GET ON THE FLOOR! DO IT NOW!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius grimaced. He never did like following orders. "Yes. You can fight now."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Angel unleashed a laugh as her hands set alight with pure, clean power. Even the Superior's men watched in amazement. Etrius raised his guns to the sky and opened fire to cause a distraction while Angel charged at the wall of soldiers./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius had her back as they fought, firing at soldiers before they got too close. Angel pulled up a shield before the bullets could even touch Etrius. Her reaction time was much faster than Etrius', even when he had Element Evil. In a way, he felt proud of Lloyd's kid. And he wasn't letting anybody else take her./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Slices of white power darted into the sky, evaporating the raindrops before they could hit the ground. She demonstrated a level of power he'd never seen before, not even from the Mind Worm or the Presence. The very evil beings of the universes that brought chaos and destruction in the blink of an eye. If he didn't know any better, he would've thought Angel as a threat to the peace. But one look at the light in her eyes, like the piercing of a sun after a violent storm put his worries at ease. Angel was going to bring peace and harmony to this world./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" They got rid of the Mind Worm, the Three Elders, the Presence, and The General had retreated to the side of the rebels. Now only the Superior remained. Sure, he had a plethora of soldiers, but they were mortal. It wouldn't be long before it was Angel's turn to win the fight, destroy the Superior, and give this world the justice it deserved./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Then, Etrius heard one of the men say something. A word. A word that sent shivers up his spine, put his teeth on edge, and sent his mind reeling./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "emBring in Obsidian/em!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Obsidian./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The only element that could bring a wielder of Element Evil to their knees./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Angel was tough and could handle herself. But not against Obsidian. The more power someone has, the stronger the effects of Obsidian were. Almost like kryptonite./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He couldn't imagine her experiencing the effects of it. Not now./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" While Angel pulled up a shield around them, Etrius seized her arm. "Angel, we need to leave!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "But we just started fighting." Angel pouted./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "It's not safe here. Not for either of us. I'll tell you later!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Together, they retreated into the darkness of the forest, shooting at enemies that dared to follow them./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" When they got far enough from the army, Angel lowered her shield to allow the darkness to hide them./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius didn't hold back from breathing heavily. The sound of pounding rain drowned it out./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Men shouted in the distance. Once in a while, they got close to where they were hiding - within an uprooted hollowed out tree. But they soon vanished./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Silence reigned./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius blinked languidly. He gave Angel the signal to be silent. She didn't respond. He couldn't see her through the darkness of the tree./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius crawled out from the tree, his eyes devouring the forest around him. Nobody was around. He breathed a sigh of relief, gesturing for Angel to come out. "Come on. The coast is clear. Let's get back to base and warn the others."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Angel didn't move. He could barely see her hunched over form inside the tree trunk. Etrius frowned, kneeling down. "Angel? What's wrong?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" A sniffle./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius' heart pounded. Horrifying thoughts plagued his mind./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He seized Angel's tiny form, carrying her out from the tree. All breath left him. Angel's right arm was bent at an awkward angle, white liquid dripping down like blood. A shard of Obsidian was embedded within the bone./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius' eyes were clouded with anger. He held Angel close to him, trying to stifle her sobs as if trying to stifle the pain. He'd been through it before, and it wasn't an experience he'd willingly go through again. With Angel's unfathomable power, he could only imagine what Angel was going through./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Fucking bastards… They have the nerve to shoot her… I will rip each and every single one of them apart…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Angel didn't criticize him for cursing./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius had to get Angel back to Romanov. He could get the Obsidian bullet out./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He bundled Angel against his chest, whispering reassuring words before rushing back to the base—/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" And right into the Superior's men./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "It's them. Open fire!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Angel was lurking under the surface of consciousness. There was no way she could summon a shield./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Bullets whizzed past them. Etrius ducked to the floor, but a sharp pain ran between his neck and shoulder. The bullet had nicked his skin. Fresh blood bloomed across the fabric of his uniform. He ground his teeth to battle the pain, wishing once again that Element Evil would heal him. But that was impossible now./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Soldiers leaped down from the towering pine trees, rushing out from cover. They were everywhere, infesting the forest like ants. It wasn't long before choppers began to roll in./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "HAND OVER THE CHILD, NOW!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius ground his teeth, and for once, it was like the bullet flesh wound wasn't even there. "Fuck you… FUCK YOU!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius waited. They didn't open fire. He frowned. They would've shot him by now. It looked like the Superior wanted them alive./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior's men closed in. Etrius checked both his Uzis. They were empty./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "FUCK OFF!" Etrius backed away, holding Angel's unmoving form closer. But more men were behind him. He stumbled around a confined area with no escape, Angel in his arms, one of her arms dangling lifelessly. "I WILL FUCKING KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU! STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Something pinched him in the small of his back. Voltage ran through his being, putting his teeth on edge. Angel fell from his arms, and then was quickly scooped up by the soldiers and carried away./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius' vision was doubled, but he could barely make out Angel's form before she was lost in the crowd. "No… NO, YOU FUCKING SONS OF BITCHES! LEAVE HER ALONE!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Soldiers grabbed his arms and began to drag him in the other direction. He struggled harder than he ever had in his entire life. He managed to land a punch and kick into a few soldiers, but they held him down with unrivaled strength. Etrius screamed, cursed them to hell, and even begged them to take him instead of Angel./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He shut his eyes and tried to draw upon the familiar inner power that slept within. To warn the others through the mental channel that connected them on another level. Hoping to feel at least a sliver of leftover Element Evil. But there was nothing. He never felt so helpless in his entire life./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" One particular chopper landed in the forest clearing, it's titanium blades chopping off any trees in the vicinity and causing near-irreplaceable damage. The trees bled nectar./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior himself emerged from the chopper's cockpit, strolling across the area with an air of superiority around him. Soldiers straightened and saluted as he passed./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius felt the cold bite of handcuffs against his wrists as he was hurled to his feet, brought before the Superior and thrust back onto his knees. "Show some respect for your C.O. that you betrayed, emRebel/em." One of the soldiers snarled. The Superior waved a hand for him to be silent. Even without speaking, his mere presence could stop an army in it's tracks./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior knelt down to Etrius' level, smiling. Triumph stirred in his blue eyes./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius snarled, through he couldn't help but feel curious. The last time he'd seen the Superior, he was old. Much older than him. He must've used Element Evil to reverse the aging process. Etrius would've done the same./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "So," The Superior chuckled, his voice young, and yet aged at the same time in a way Etrius couldn't explain. "emThis/em is the leader of the Elite Rebel Organization? emThis /emworthless rat has been causing us all this trouble?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius spat at him, but he narrowly missed him by an inch. His head was spinning. "You've got a lot of nerve showing your face here, especially after all we've done for you and Earth. All that emAngel/em has done."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Angel…" The Superior's eyes grew distant, as if he were tossing the name around his mind. "So that is her name, hm? Such a pity that you are containing so much power. A weapon like that shouldn't be locked away. It will collect dust."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "She's not a weapon," Etrius growled. "She's human just like the rest of us."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Are you sure about that?" The Superior winked./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius hated every single square inch of this man, but the worst part was that he was correct. Angel wasn't human. She was the universe's first Hybrid. An immortal./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior stroked his chin. "The last I saw of you, you were torn apart alive by the Mind Worm and the Presence. You died, and yet now you're kneeling here in front of me. I wonder…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He kicked Etrius' shoulder until he collapsed in the mud on his back. Raindrops hit his eyelids like needles. The Superior planted the bottom of his boot against his shoulder, pressing it against the floor. Etrius felt something in his shoulder emsnap/em. He couldn't hold back. He unleashed a scream of frustration and agony. After healing with Element Evil for years, he forgot what pain felt like./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior watched him heave several breaths before chuckling. "Just as I thought. He doesn't have Element Evil. None of them do."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius snarled, blood dripping from the side of his mouth. "Listen here, you fucking piece of shit. You'll leave Angel here, and my team won't rip you to shreds. She's just a child. She's not your enemy."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "I think you underestimate my purpose," The Superior grabbed Etrius' broken shoulder, yanking him back up to his knees. Blood and mud caked his face like oil. "Read my lips. emI. Want. Her. Power./em I could care less about the child."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius' hands scrunched the grass, trying to find something solid in a world that spun. "Then we'll work something out," He cursed himself for what he was about to suggest, but it was the only way to save her. "We'll find a way to extract her powers. Just—Just don't hurt her! She's done nothing wrong against you—against anybody. She's willing to befriend the enemy, and choose peace over war."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Innocence…" The Superior sighed. "Sickens me. Too see the darkness take over her eyes as she learns and grows under my watch will be most pleasurable. I just wanted to see the expression on your face as I tell you that your emniece/em is now mine… And so is that Ancient Descendant—Nox. I've searched for years for a way to create a Hyrbid like that child, but without the experimentation involved, creating defects. Nox is the answer to my questions. The end to my quest." He hissed in his ear. "The mother of our next Hybrid child. I look forward to seeing how well she fights in bed."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius' eyes widened as the realization set in. "Sick bastard… All you need is her DNA!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior shrugged. "Do I look like a man who saves his victims the torture?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius ground his teeth, the anger manifesting inside of him until it reached the surface. He screamed, yanking away from the soldiers and pouncing on the Superior. The handcuffs held him back, but he pressed his knee against his throat, pinching his airway shut. The Superior's face was coated in a layer of mud and Etrius' blood, but his white teeth still sliced through the darkness in a smile./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The moment didn't last long. The Superior's men seized him once again, dragging him off. He felt the side of his head collide with the ground, and everything went dark. His ears still picked up voices./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior picked himself up, batting away the helping hands of his men. "Teach him a lesson… And make sure his body is never found."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius uttered a groan as he felt himself being rolled onto his back. Someone's boot collided with his stomach, winding him. He felt something press against his broken shoulder. Muscle curled around the broken bone, piercing it. Hands raked fire and agony everywhere they touched. He opened his mouth to howl out the pain, but his voice was lost somewhere in his throat./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Element Evil." It took Etrius a while to realize he said the words. He needed it, now. He needed it to destroy the men who had the nerve to betray him, to heal himself, and find Angel./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior must've been watching them the whole time. He waited for the right moment, when the team and Angel weren't together, to make his move. In a way, he felt responsible for all this. If he'd just taken the team with him…/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius lost track of time, but every bone in his body ached. He couldn't move. The ground was flooded a few inches, filling his lungs each time he breathed in. They wouldn't stop landing blows when he was down. His eyes rolled up in their sockets. He began to lose feeling, starting from the fingertips and spreading through his veins. His vision grew dark, but a bright spark of light permeated his vision, almost like watching a phenomenon from outer space./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "You think he's dead?" One of the Superior's men inquired./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Not sure. I can't feel his pulse through his fucking rain. Let's drop him over the canyon. The fall will kill him."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius uttered a groan as he felt rough hands grab his cuffs, dragging him across the ground. Scars opened up in his back, through his torn clothes. Only one word crossed his mind. emAngel/em. He saw her face, heard her voice, felt her powerful, innocent hands in his./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emAnd Nox/emem… I'm so sorry you have this monster after you./em He knew it was futile to put his thoughts out there, especially when Element Evil no longer connected their minds and souls. emLloyd, you/emem'd better look after her. Keep her safe. Keep the whole team safe for me. Can you do that?/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius felt the ground give away beneath him. The Superior's men swung his arms over the canyon. He heard the steep ground hit his ribcage before he felt it. He rolled and slid until his chest hit a small shrub bush peeking out from the soil. Each breath pushed against his broken ribs. He lay there, dangling within the shrub, surrounded by darkness./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Where is he?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Can't see him. He's probably dead. Let's get the fuck out of here. I'm soaking wet."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius waited many heartbeats for the soldiers to walk away far enough before he screamed out the pain and frustration pent up inside of him. Choppers darted through the night sky, moving away from the area. Angel was on one of those choppers./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "No…" Using what little strength he had, Etrius moved his cuffed hands in front of him, trying to shove the pain into the back of his mind. "Angel…" He dug his fingertips into the wet soil, trying to climb his way out of the canyon. If he could just make it to one of the choppers, and follow them…/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He lost his grip. The soil crumbled beneath his fingers, resulting in a slow, perilous descent. He let out a scream of frustration, trying again and again, even long after the choppers were gone. His radio had been destroyed. There was no way to contact the team./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"He pressed his foot into the soil, but hit against a stone. He inhaled sharply as he lost hold of the soil with his hands. He rocked backwards, his back colliding with the soil. He tumbled down the steep cliff, loosing consciousness before he hit the bottom./p 


	4. Chapter 3

p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "emAnother/em child?" Nox repeated incredulously. "Lloyd, just stop it right there. There's no way this world can handle more than one Hyrbid."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd leaned in to the crook of her neck, his thumb caressing her stomach beneath her shirt, and nearly changing Nox's mind by his close proximity. "We're going to be moving into the city, Nox. To live normal lives. Now that the resource war is over, the laws say we can have another child."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" They had just left the city and were on their way back to the base in a Humvee. Lloyd had parked the car beneath the canopy of trees. The moon was at his back, lighting up strands of his hair like a halo./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "That's not what I'm worried about," Nox pushed away from him, even though her heart was torn apart by the small distance. "emWhat/em normal life? Angel will never be normal. We couldn't even bring her to school - we had to teach her everything at Headquarters. Bringing another child, only to live a life in secret is going to make life worse for them, and us."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd pressed a soft, warm kiss into her forehead, moving down her cheek, then to her jawline. He trailed kisses down the side of her neck./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Their radio crackled to life. Beecher was calling in Etrius, but he wasn't responding. Using one hand, Lloyd turned down the volume, the other clicking the seat recliner so he leaned over Nox's form./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Thunder rolled through the sky, and rain pelted through the leaves and into the Humvee. Nox protested for a moment to stop and for them to close the roof, but Lloyd kissed her hard, changing her mind. He was dominant, holding her close and crushing his mouth to hers./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The kiss softened. His mouth slipped and dived against hers, his body shielding hers from the rain. Electricity even stronger than Element Evil crackled through the air. A world opened up between them, one that was frightening as it was familiar. He pressed his hand against hers, caressing the palm./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox blinked languidly before shutting her eyes and savoring the moment before they'd return to patrol around the base./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Beecher continued trying to contact Etrius over the radio, but he still wasn't responding. Nox pushed any worries into the back of her mind. Etrius could take care of himself. He'd radio in sooner or later./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox ran her hands beneath Lloyd's damp shirt that hugged his torso, running her hands up and across his chest. Lloyd sucked a raindrop from her bottom lip, making her giggle./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "I love you," He whispered with a soft moan, his voice nearly drowned by the pouring rain. "Nox, I will never let you go. You're mine."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" His hands trailed up and down her arms, leaving behind a hot, delicious ache. Nox's mind lapsed into a state of ecstasy./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Beecher was now shouting for Etrius over the radio. Lloyd groaned in frustration, responding to Beecher when he finally tried contacting them. "What?" He demanded, more forceful than he meant to./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "emLloyd, Nox, answer the fucking receiver before I lose Etrius/emem' pulse!/em"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox and Lloyd jolted, picking up the receiver. "What the hell happened!?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Beecher, state your location," Nox tried to keep her voice calm, but her heart was beating right out of her chest. Etrius had lost Element Evil. Everyone did. Death was an imminent as it was before./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Northern forest," Beecher breathed. "Canyon outcropping. God, the entire place is flooding. His lungs are filled with water. emHurry your asses/em!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd had the keys in the ignition and stomped the gas faster than he would've had he still had Element Evil. Nox wiped her hand as dry as she could get it, the rain stinging her skin. She tapped several settings across the keyboard screen, finding Beecher's location on the built-in GPS./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emTen minutes./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd noticed this, and then set the gear to full speed, expertly navigating his way through the trees. They made it to the outcropping in less than five minutes. By now, Beecher had pulled Etrius out of the cliff, and back onto flat land. Open wounds ran the length of his torso, a dent in his ribcage, a black eye, and huge bruises staining his skin. Lloyd immediately leaped out of the Humvee without opening the door, coming to Beecher's side immediately. "Let's get him in the Humvee. We have medical supplies inside."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius opened his mouth to say something when Lloyd came into sight, but blood gurgled in his throat. He shut his eyes, desperately wanting to reach him through Mindspeak./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Where's Angel?" Nox's breathing grew heavy in panic. "I thought you said she was with you. She can heal you!" She grabbed Etrius' shoulders, pulling him upright. "emWhere is she/em?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius shut his eyes and shook his head. He clenched his teeth at the sudden movement, feeling tiny bones in his neck pop out of place./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "NOX! STOP!" Beecher shoved her away. "What, do you want to fucking kill him?!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd seized the collar of Beecher's shirt, snarling into his face in warning. "You emdon/emem't/em touch her."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "What the fuck has gotten into you!?" Beecher screamed over the crack of thunder. "Our team leader is about to die. emEtrius/em is about to die!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Completely oblivious to the rest of the team, Etrius began drawing into the mud. Just because he couldn't use his vocal chords didn't mean he could tell the rest of them./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Doesn't that fucking phase you?!" Beecher ground his teeth, anger clouding his eyes as rain dripping down his hair, which was slightly shaved at the sides./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd and Nox's faces fell in apprehension. Beecher had been with Etrius much longer than the rest of the team, and he had every right to be angry at them./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Wait," Lloyd breathed, seeing Etrius running his hand through the dirt. He could only create one letter./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd felt his spirit shatter. Nox brought her hands to her mouth, stifling a sob. Beecher ground his teeth in anger./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emS./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox fell to her knees. "No, no, no…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd's face was impassive. Then, the expression twisted into something dark and angry./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He rose to his feet, and cursed the Superior's name to the howling wind./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius squeezed his eyes shut, his lips moving but not forming any words. He mouthed the words, emI/emem'm sorry./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "We need to get him back to base; I'm losing his pulse!" Beecher tugged off his shirt and used the fabric to stop the wounds from bleeding. His skin turned pale and ghastly. His hair was matted with blood and mud, running down his face with the rainwater./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "No," Nox huffed. "We look for Angel. The Superior couldn't have gotten far. We can catch up to him if we just—"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius' eyes widened at her words. He sat upright, not caring how much it hurt. He managed to utter a few words, extending a hand towards her. "Don't… Superior… Wants… More Hybrids…" He sank back down into the flooded grass./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Beecher's face scrunched with ire. He grabbed the keys from Lloyd's back pocket, dragging Etrius to the Humvee. "I don't give a shit what you do. But I'm taking my comrade back to Headquarters. I'm not leaving him here to die!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Beecher, you emwill/em fucking give me those keys!" Lloyd grabbed Beecher's shoulder to stop him. Beecher swung around, holding a pistol to Lloyd's face./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox was at a loss for words. Had they still been immortal, this would've been rough play. But Beecher wasn't fucking around. He was truly a trigger away from taking away the life of the only person in the world who cared./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Beecher," Nox said carefully. "Put the gun down. We have enough dying men as it is! This is emexactly/em what the Superior wants!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Beecher didn't move. His red eyes burned holes into Lloyd. Lloyd glared back at him with as much scorn as he could conjure. Rain dripped off his nose and down his face. Cold wind howled between them./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Then, Lloyd threw his hands into the air. "Fine! You know what? Fine. We'll bring him back to base. But then we're taking another Humvee, and emeveryone/em is going out there and searching for the Superior. Are you fucking satisfied? Do we have a fucking deal?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Beecher remained in the same position for a moment before lowering his weapon, holstering it. He laid Etrius in the backseat, pulling the hood over them and blocking out the rainwater. Beecher revved the engine and darted back to Rebel Headquarters./p 


	5. Chapter 4

p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Immediately after Etrius was dropped off back at Headquarters, Lloyd and Nox set out in search of Angel. Nox and Lloyd took their own Humvee while Boomer and The General took two more, heavily armed. Timber darted ahead of them, weaving his way through the forest and trying to pick up a scent. He unleashed a howl into the humid night./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd stomped the gas, following the form of their wolf as the Humvee crashed and bounced through forest debris. He was breathing heavily, shoulders rising and falling, teeth clenched. How dare somebody touch that child… emHis/em child. When he found the Superior, he was going to tear him apart, limb from limb. If the team didn't shoot him to death first./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox stared straight ahead, frozen tears lingering on her face. The only time she felt this traumatized and broken was when Beecher and Etrius first awakened her from Cryo-Sleep, telling her that she was living 50 years in the future. She shut her eyes, looking for the familiar string that tethered her soul to Angel's. The invisible channel between them that allowed them the power of Mindspeak through Element Evil. But there was nothing. Only a hollow emptiness./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" She cast a glance at Lloyd, who was too focused on driving and following Timber to provide any words of comfort. She wondered how he was able to hold himself together, after spending years locked up and tortured as a prisoner of war. And spending all those years, fighting alongside the brother of the man he killed, and unable to say a word… Lloyd's mental state was stronger than hers, no doubt about that./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" But Angel was the only Hyrbid on the planet. If the Superior found a way to extract her powers, and the team had no access to Element Evil, the Earth would shatter./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emWhat if the only way to extract her powers is to/emem…/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" She swallowed hard. emKill her./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The mere words caused bile to rise up into her throat./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" When Lloyd caught Nox staring, his hand met hers and he held it tight. "We'll find her, Nox. We'll find her."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Timber slowed to a stop near the canyon outcropping. He spent a few minutes sniffing around, silent. Then, he retreated to Boomer's Humvee, leaping up to the window with his front paws./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Boomer held Angel's sword to his nose again, commanding that he continue searching for the scent./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Timber darted back into the woods, trotting near the edge of the canyon. He spent several minutes sniffing one spot before unleashing a low howl. He gave Boomer an uncertain glance./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd dragged a hand down his face. "That's Etrius' scent! Boomer, tell your stupid dog to find the right scent."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Shut the fuck up, Lloyd. He's working on it!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Boomer hopped out, once again allowing his wolf to get a good scent of the sword. He watched as Timber searched the area, sniffing up trees and inside shrubbery. Boomer's eyes were filled with hope and expectation. Not once did Timber fail in finding something, not even Mullins' cigar packs. He couldn't fail him now, not when Angel's life was on the line./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" After thirty minutes, Timber returned to Boomer's side with his tail between his legs and ears flat against his head. Almost as if in apology./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd unleashed a scream of frustration, shoving his foot against a nearby tree./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "LLOYD, RELAX!" The General hurled himself out of his own Humvee, leaving the keys in the ignition./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The sudden explosion of anger caused Timber to shrink back behind Boomer's legs. Boomer quietly hushed him, allowing him to lick his palm, but he didn't take his eyes off Lloyd./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "This is your fault…" Nox said, barely above a whisper. She turned to Lloyd, seizing the front of his clothes. "THIS IS YOUR FAULT! I TOLD YOU, WE SHOULD HAVE TAKEN ANGEL WITH US!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd caught her wrists, forcing her to be still. "Nox, please!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox tried to breathe in, but it ended up in a sob. "Isn't that what I said?" She turned to The General and Boomer. "emIsn/emem't that what I said/em?!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Boomer sunk away into the shadows, following Timber. The General remained where he was. Something was churning in his eyes. "Private satellite…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd and Nox whipped their heads around to face him. "What?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "The Superior has a private satellite…" Understanding stirred in his steely, cold, cobalt blue eyes. "I thought he wouldn't need it anymore, not after The Presence and the Mind Worm attacked. Not since the war ended. He must've known that we had the Earth's first Hyrbid, and he's been watching us ever since. He could be watching us right now."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd remained silent for a moment. Then, he shoved The General against the chest, throwing him against a tree. "How the emfuck/em does that help us?!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Lloyd—" The General looked like he was about to say something, but he shut his mouth. He already owed so much to Lloyd for the past, and there was no use in arguing back. He never knew what it was like to have a kid, especially one with so much power, and lose it in a heartbeat./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The thought brought no satisfaction to him. No familiar feeling in his chest that demanded he carry out the act. No hunger for power, or urge to cause harm to others. Being with the team changed him, but it also meant giving sacrifices. Angel didn't deserve to be that sacrifice./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Then, Timber's prolonged howl shattered the silence. Gunshots rang out./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Timber appeared from the darkness, growling and dragging a struggling soldier by the back of his shirt. He gnawed at his neck, shaking his head back and forth as if he were trying to tear a chunk of meat off a bone. Boomer followed closely behind, aiming his shotgun./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" They recognized his uniform instantly. He was one of the Superior's men./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Found this sorry bastard perched in a tree," Boomer growled. "Something tells me he isn't here for hunting deer." He kicked away his weapons. "Especially with an AK and a Sniper with a silencer."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd grabbed the soldier by his shoulders, yanking him harshly against a tree. "Listen up, you worthless fucking son a bitch, before I make you shit yourself so hard, you'll tear open a second asshole. Where the fuck are they?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The soldier had blood running down the side of his mouth, but he gave a twisted smile, exposing broken teeth. His eyes were shielded with a glass visor. Lloyd smashed the visor with his bare hands, and dragged a piece of glass across his chest through his torn clothes. The soldier just stood there, smiling as blood dampened the dirt, laughing even./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "emWhere the fuck are they?!/em" Lloyd screamed even louder./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The General stumbled back away from him. Not once had he seen that kind of darkness in Lloyd's eyes. Not even when he was still an assassin, and torn apart when he watched Josiah die in front of him. He shut his eyes, trying not to return to the memories. He reminded himself why he was here, and that he was a changed man./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd was on the verge of physically beating out a response before The General put a hand on his shoulder. "Lloyd, stop. It's no use. The Superior trains his men to never speak a word about their organization. I remember seeing it with my own eyes. They were taught, that if they ever got caught and interrogated, they'd need to prepare to die."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The soldier gave a toothy grin. "Perhaps if you'd give me one night with that woman of yours, I could give you a hint…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox had never seen Lloyd so furious. He unsheathed his sword, held it up…/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" And slit the man's neck./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The man's lifeless body collapsed at his feet./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Lloyd!" Nox screamed, bringing her hands to her mouth. It was the first kill Lloyd made since he'd become human again. But that wasn't what Nox was worried about./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd spat at his lifeless body. "I'll see you in hell before that happens."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd shoved past the doors, making his way to the infirmary, Nox following close behind. "Lloyd, he held valuable information!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "He was useless," Lloyd huffed. "And I'm not giving you up for anybody. Not now. Not ever. And we don't have Element Evil anymore," He rounded a turn. "We can't force an answer from him."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The glass doors leading to the infirmary slid open. Lloyd approached Etrius' battered form, lying still on one of the white infirmary beds. Romanov was checking his pulse./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd shoved him out of the way, causing the monitoring equipment to topple over. "Tell me everything."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Beecher immediately stood between the two, but he merely scowled in warning. He could easily upholster his pistol again if Lloyd made the wrong move./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius shut his eyes. Whether from the pain or disappointment, he wasn't sure. His arm was in a sling and bandaged up, white cloth wrapped around his head and right eye. His shoulder was covered with a large bandage, the bloodied bullet lying in a steel tray beside him. Ever since he'd began his career in the army, he'd always kept the bullets he'd been shot with, as trophies of his survival and victories. Lloyd sometimes even saw him wear them as a necklace with his dogtags. But now, the bullet was being used to track down the Superior's base./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" When Etrius noticed Nox rush into the infirmary room, he breathed a sigh of relief, finally being able to talk now that the blood was cleared out of his lungs. But his voice was still weary and dry. "Thank God… He hasn't come for you yet."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "What are you talking about?" Nox narrowed her eyes./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "The Superior," Etrius breathed. "I tried to warn you. Angel isn't enough for him. He wants more Hybrids, but each experiment he orders comes back with incomplete DNA. Failures. Angel's DNA was perfectly crafted - created by someone of Earth, and someone of the Ancients home world. Lloyd and Nox."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd ran his hands through his hair. "And here we were thinking having another kid would've been harmless."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox shoved him. "emYou/em thought that."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius continued, speaking as fast as he could and in short breaths, as if there wasn't any time. "I tried to negotiate. I told him he could take Angel's powers, as long as he kept her alive." He ignored the disappointed grimace from Romanov, who was dusting off his lab coat and cleaning his glasses. "But he said that killing the child was useless. She's immortal, so there's no way to kill her. And even if he did, her powers would evaporate into the universe and he'd lose them. He wants to raise the child as his own, and he'll take her memories just because he can."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox's heart hammered against her ribcage. God knew how much time had passed since Angel went missing. "We have to find her before that happens—"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "emNo!/em" Etrius flew upright, but groaned as he held his ribcage, sinking back down. "Nox, don't… For the love of God, don't go out there."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "What the fuck are you talking about? Are you out of your shit?! We can't just leave her there!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius looked at her with something undecipherable stirring in his emerald eyes. Something she'd never seen before. It wasn't anger, or sadness, or disapproval. It was something else. And she couldn't describe it./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "I've lost enough people already… Nox, I've seen that man and what he's capable of," As he said this, The General walked into the room, but remained near the edge of the wall in the doorway, a habit of his. Etrius continued. "When he still had Element Evil, he used it's power to revert his aging process. The bastard is back in his mid twenties."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "I don't get it."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "He wants more Hybrids…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Etrius, you're scaring me. I've never seen you this way. What the hell are you saying?!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "emHe wants you, Nox/em!" Etrius inhaled sharply, feeling something break inside of him. "emThat/emem's/em what I'm trying to say! Don't you get it? You're the only true-blood Ancient living on this planet. And he's earth-bound. It takes an Ancient and an Earthean to create a Hyrbid."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "He—He wants to.." Nox brought her hands to her mouth, stepping back and feeling utterly disgusted. "Why can't he just take the DNA?" She whispered./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "He's sick in the head. And he doesn't want to risk anymore defects. He'd rather do it the natural way. Nox, I'm so sorry you have this demon after you… Please. For the love of God, emplease/em don't go out there. He's been watching us all this time. He knows our every move. He can slip past our defenses and find a way to get to you."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox shut her eyes, clenching her teeth. "I emneed/em to go back out there. Angel is depending on me."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Nox!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Etrius is right," The General made his presence known from the doorway, sauntering into the room. He eyed Nox with icy cold blue eyes. "The Superior holds the upper hand now. He can use Angel to blackmail you into walking right into his hands. Nox, I'm giving you advice. And if anyone in this room really knows who I am, then they know I never do that. We need to think this through."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "I don't give a shit what he does! I'm not leaving her with him. I'll turn myself in if it means bringing her back, with her powers or not. Lloyd and I can—" Nox then noticed something. "Wait… Where's Lloyd?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox caught up to Lloyd as he was marching towards the exit, fully armed with weapons. "Lloyd!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd's shoulders were hunched, his face twisted with rage. "I'm going to fucking emkill/em that son of a emBITCH/em!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Lloyd, there's something you should know."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd seized her wrists. "No. You're not coming with me. You're staying here, and that bastard isn't going to touch you!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox crossed her arms over her chest. "I can handle myself."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "No, not against this man. Nox, I've told you a thousand times over. I love you, and I'll never let you go. You're mine. I'm not letting that man lay a finger on you."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox ran her hands through her hair. "Lloyd, that's not what I'm trying to say!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "emThen what is it?/em" Lloyd demanded, more forcefully than he intended./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "We're done!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd opened his mouth to say something, but there were no words. Silence reigned between them./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "We're… Done?" Lloyd echoed, as if trying to understand the word. "You know what? Nox, you don't look so good. Go back to the dorm, get some sleep. You haven't had a full eight hours in—"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "emI mean it, Lloyd/em." Nox hissed, then sighed. "I've been meaning to say this. I knew something like this was bound to happen. Open your eyes, Lloyd. We were never meant to be, alright? Look what happened the first time we met. We were separated for twenty years, and you were emtortured/em during all those years. The second time? Earth fell into the hands of three supernatural tyrants. Now, Angel's been kidnapped by the most powerful man on earth. Not even Timber can track her down. If we have more kids, we'll only bring more death and destruction. If we stay together, the nightmare will never end."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Wait, you—You're divorcing me?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox shut her eyes and bowed her head./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "You can't do that! We're married. Bound forever by—"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "emActually, she can!/em" Etrius shouted from the infirmary. "emThe Laws state that people can now divorce by word of mouth! They did it to lower the population count/em!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Shut up, Etrius!" Lloyd screamed back./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "The last thing I want to see is you getting hurt again because of me," Nox's voice faltered. "This damage needs to end. Whatever was between you and me, it's over. I love you, Lloyd."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "You want to keep us safe by pushing us apart?! Nox, please think this through."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "I love you more than I do my own life, which is why we can't be together. I made a promise that I would keep us all safe. Now it's time to fulfill that promise."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd's eyes were red and raw from holding back tears. They were intense and full of pain. He fell to his knees before her, pressing his head against her stomach where his child once lived. "I've waited years to have you back. emTwenty/em slow, agonizing emyears /emspent living as a prisoner of war under The General's watch. I planned on bringing Josiah and an army to the United States and coming back for you, but then I was dragged back into the nightmare. I actually believed you were dead at one point, and I gave up all reason to live. Don't you see? You're mine. emMine./em Not Boomer's, and certainly not the Superior's. Mine. I won't lose you again!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox shut her eyes, squeezing out tears, holding back the pain. She splayed her hands on his shoulders… And shoved him away. A cold wall was thrown up between them. "We're trying too hard to do something that was never meant to be," Her own stony, cold voice surprised her. "Nothing can change that. Just stop trying, Lloyd." She tugged off her engagement ring. "Here. Go get your money back."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd wouldn't take the ring. He just remained frozen on his knees, staring into Nox's eyes, as if looking for something lost./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Stop looking at me like that!" Nox took a breath, then said the words that she'd been dreading to hear her entire life. "I declare that our marriage is severed. There. It's done. Now no harm can come to us."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" After a moment of tense silence, Lloyd finally rose to his feet, staring at her with scorn and hurt. "You've just made the worst mistake of your life, Nox. You'll come back. One day, you're going to realize that you were wrong, and you'll come back begging on your knees."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Nox turned her back to him, not caring how much it hurt. "Not gonna happen, Lloyd."/p 


	6. Chapter 5

p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Angel wasn't scared./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Even as the Superior's men cuffed her arms with Obsidian shackles, draining her power and energy in waves, she wasn't afraid. She fought, even. Struggled against the soldiers as they dragged her through the hallways of enemy base. A blindfold covered her eyes, but she could still tell she was inside an unfamiliar building./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" A sudden thought occurred to her. emIf I/emem'm not scared, why am I crying?/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Tears dampened the blindfold, rubbing against her skin until it turned red and raw./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Quit struggling!" One of the men raised the butt of his rifle at the child./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" A higher ranked soldier held him back. "Watch it! He said he wanted her unharmed and emconscious./em emDo you want to get your ass killed?/em"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The soldier glared at the child before slowly lowering his rifle. "Fine. You take her in then."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Angel felt another set of rough hands grab her shoulders, leading her down another series of hallways. The obsidian cuffs kept her powers below the surface, like a pot left to simmer on the stove, but she could easily sense over twenty soldiers following them through the hallways, keeping weapons of all kinds aimed straight at her. She could almost smell the obsidian bullets through the barrels, slathered in gun oil./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" A door swung open. Angel was shoved inside a room, and it shut behind her./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Minutes passed./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Soon, Angel felt another presence in the room. "No need to cry, my child of desolation. Everything will be alright."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Angel's brows creased. She didn't recognize the voice. "Who are you?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" His fingers fumbled with the back of her blindfold, and it slipped down to her neck. Her eyes dilated painfully against the sudden influx of light, but she got a good look at the man. He had almond blue eyes, slicked back blond hair that curled at the nape of his neck, an aristocratic nose and a square jaw with the slightest hint of stubble. He wore a red and black uniform of a very high rank. A superior rank. The colors reminded Angel of blood and darkness. She could sense it stirring within him./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He thumbed away a tear, smiling. If it weren't for the redness beneath his eyes, he would've seemed almost harmless. "Welcome to your new home. Here, you will no longer need to hold back on your powers. Here, you're allowed to embrace them - do whatever you want with them. And I can help you control them."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Angel gasped and stepped back. She knew exactly who this man was. The team had warned her about him, told her about how he tried to take over the world, and how they were all once under his command, including The General./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "I know who you are," She ground her teeth and pulled on an angry face to show him she wasn't scared. But on the inside, she was terrified. Terrified of the mortal man with no powers and no weapons./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior smiled. "You do? I see. And did your emteam/em tell you all about me?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" This time, Angel was emreally/em upset. "I'm not a little kid who listens to fairytales and fantasies. I know what you are and what you want. He's going to find you."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior raised a brow. "My, young and mature are we?" He knelt down to her level. "Sadly, your emUncle Etrius/em isn't coming for you."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Angel's eyes widened./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior gave a sick, twisted smile. "He's dead. I made sure his body was thrown over the steep outcropping."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Angel suddenly couldn't breathe. She backed away until she hit the wall. "You're lying. He can't be dead! That's something you do - you lie."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior shrugged. "Believe it or not, he's dead. Why? Aren't you happy? I thought you hated living with them. Don't you hate holding your powers back? Living here, you'll never have to hold back again. I can train you in the art of war," He closed the distance between them, tilting her chin up to face him. "I can be your new father, and give you everything you want."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Angel yanked her chin away, tears burning behind her eyes. "The team will find you."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior quirked. "And what will they do when they find me?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Angel didn't respond./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior grimaced. "Just as I thought… you're trained not to kill. No matter. I will change that overtime, as well as your name to help you forget. You will become a machine that will destroy the Elite Rebels." He stood to his feet and sauntered towards the exit./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Angel gave a strangled cry and darted towards him. "Coward!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior extended a hand, stopping Angel in her tracks and hurling her to the floor. The chains weighed her down. "Tsk, tsk. That's no way to speak to your father. What a disappointment. Soon, you will be fully loyal to me, my child." The iron doors slammed shut behind him, and the room was cast into darkness./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" After several heartbeats of agonizing silence, Angel pulled herself up. She pushed herself into one corner of the dark room, the chains dragging behind her. She curled up into a ball, shutting her eyes although within the darkness, it made no difference./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emUncle Etrius/emem… He can't be dead… I can still sense him, somewhere./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Memories crawled through the darkness around her. She remembered being back at the base, training to sword-fight with her father, waiting eagerly for Boomer to visit her, being surrounded by people she loved and the light they brought her./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Four tears rolled down her face, one for each team member. One thought planted itself inside her mind before blackout./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"emI want to go home./em/p 


	7. Chapter 6

p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Angel's voice./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" She called from somewhere in the forest, beyond the mist. Nox squinted, her eyes trying to cut through the distraction around her. She hated these mortal eyes. Her clothes were damp and clung to her skin, her hair frizzy and speckled with misty dew. An icy current tickled the back of her neck. Over her shoulder, she gave the thick fog a long, distrustful look./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Angel?" Nox called her name. "Angel! Where are you?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox whirled around, then inhaled sharply. Angel's tiny silhouette strolled through the fog. She was walking away from her. Nox darted towards her child. "Angel! Turn around!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Mum?" Angel picked up her pace, but she was headed in the wrong direction./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Angel, I'm here! I'm here!" Something was holding Nox back, as if she were trying to walk underwater and her legs wouldn't move fast enough./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Mum?" Angel's voice called out again, but it sounded even more distant, the echo ricocheting off the trees. By now, she was a speck of brown dust in the fog, fading away./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox's foot caught against an tree's root protruding from the ground. She collapsed on her stomach. When she looked up again, Angel was gone. Nox screamed Angel's name at the top of her lungs, but her cries went unanswered./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox slammed her fists into the dirt, cursing herself for not running fast enough. For failing to protect Angel. For leaving her alone./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Then, footsteps. Somewhere within the fog./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Through the sudden tears that blurred her vision, Nox's eyes flicked up. Angel was walking back towards her. Her white glowing eyes sliced through the mist like knives./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox uttered a sigh in relief. "Thank God. I thought you were lost forever. You scared me so much!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Angel didn't respond./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox squinted again, then gasped./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior's silhouette towered beside her. His hand clasped her shoulder, almost possessively. Perfectly straight white teeth gleamed through the mist. "She's mine now. And so are you. Come quietly, and I can promise you a painless process."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He reached out, seizing her throat and dragging her to her knees. His vice-like grip shut off her airway. Through hazy vision, she saw his steely, cobalt blue eyes burn into hers./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" She gave a strangled cry. "No— No!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox sat upright in her dorm bed. "Lloyd!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" She glanced beside her. Lloyd wasn't there, only cold wrinkled bed sheets. The clock read 3 AM./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox sighed, burying her face in her hands. She wasn't used to not sleeping beside Lloyd, and without the comfort of Angel near. 48 hours had passed, and there was still no sign of Angel, or the Superior. Not even Timber could track her down./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" She threw the sheets off her and slipped out of bed. After tugging on her rebel uniform and combat boots, she pulled her hair into a messy ponytail and checked the hallway./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The corridors were dark, and she could faintly hear the team snoring from their dorms./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox quietly made her way past their rooms, stopping to check Lloyd's dorm. He was tossing and turning in his sleep, murmuring incoherent words. His arms were extended to the side, and she briefly remembered him saying he was used to sleeping like that. While living as a prisoner of war, he would be left in chains and often slept that way for days. She felt a twinge of guilt in her heart, but then reminded herself why she left him. Nobody was safe as long as they were together./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" She slipped past security cameras and made her way outside, into the forest. The humidity immediately overwhelmed her, her uniform sticking to her skin. Her hair was matted, and she shivered against the freezing air. A full moon crested above the distant mountain terrain, casting moonlight and jagged shadows across the landscape. Her breath crystallized into the air./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" She had to do this; Angel was depending on her./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Footsteps./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Behind her./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox whirled around, prepared for anything— Then she realized she left her weapons back at the base. Not like she was avoiding getting captured. Nox caught a familiar whiff in the air. She didn't need powers to know the scent of demolition ashes. "Boomer?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Silence reigned for a few long moments. Then, Boomer leaped down from one of the tree branches, his white shirt tightly hugging his broad shoulders and lithe body build. He watched Nox with soft blue eyes. "It's late. You should be back at base."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox crossed her arms and scoffed. "Shouldn't emyou/em be back at the base?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Boomer was silent for a moment. "Etrius assigned me watch duty for the night."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox slapped her forehead. Of course. There was always someone up during the night hours, patrolling the base. She should have been more careful and taken the back exit./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Without warning, Boomer closed the distance between them, his close proximity so painfully familiar. "Nox. You don't have to do this."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox's breath caught. "Do—What?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Don't play stupid, Nox. I know what you're trying to do, and it won't work. The Superior won't simply give back Angel because you forfeit your life. He doesn't play by those rules. He doesn't play by any rules."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox curled her hands into fists. "emWhat do you expect me to do/em?" She hissed. "Just sit here and do nothing? Angel is still out there, alive. I can feel it. And don't ask me how, I just can. I won't rest until I have her back, and by God I'll relinquish my own freedom if it comes to that." She didn't realize she was crying until her vision became a hazy blur./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Boomer stroked her arms, bringing her into a gentle hug. Not a crushing, relentless one that usually broke someone's neck. But one that was soft, deep and caring. "Nox… Look what you're doing to yourself. It scares me to see you like this. As much as I hate that bastard Lloyd, I finally saw that you were happy with him. You denied yourself that happiness, and now you're willing to give up your freedom and possibly your life. Please, stop. You're hurting the team."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox shook her head. "I can't be with Lloyd."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Why not?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "I already told everyone. The longer we stay together, the worse it will be for us, for the team, and for Angel."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Something undecipherable stirred in Boomer's eyes. After a heartbeat, he said, "You divorced Lloyd to make it easier. So when you gave yourself up to the Superior, it would make your time more bearable knowing you're not married."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Yes. I mean, no. I mean— …It's complicated."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "It always is."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox frowned, shoving Boomer away. "Stay out of my way, Boomer. I mean it. This is my decision, and I'll do as I—"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" A pair of hot, smoldering lips met hers, immediately melting away her defenses. Her eyes widened, but she couldn't bring herself to argue back. A secret world opened up between them, one that was strange as it was familiar. She felt a hollow hole in her heart become mended, filled with light, passion, and unspoken promises. She felt herself drown within him, and it took all her mental strength to simply breathe./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox didn't open her eyes until the moment Boomer withdrew. He quickly glanced away and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry," He said quickly. "I didn't know how else to react. But I can't let you go, Nox."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox remained silent, her lips burning where Boomer had kissed her./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "I shouldn't have done that. I know. You belong to Lloyd, and—"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "I don't belong to anyone," Nox interjected without emotion. "Lloyd and I are divorced. There's no changing that."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Boomer held her close, holding her head fervently. "Please don't go. We'll find another way. You told me before that there's emalways/em another way, and you've proved that so many times."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox sighed, the heaviness in her soul being lifted. "Alright. I'll stay, but we continue looking for Angel. She's our top priority now."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" For a long time, they said nothing. But the empull/em was always there, roiling them in, growing stronger with each heartbeat. Beneath the surface was a reeling undertow of beauty and rage, of love and fury, of passion and wrath. The icy chill of night surrounded them, drifting on as if they didn't exist, although the two couldn't have been more aware of each other./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Boomer?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Mm."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Can you… Is it alright if you stay around? A little longer."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;""Always."/p 


	8. Chapter 7

p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" align="center" 3 Months later/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emAngel./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The name was etched into the bottom corner of the mirror. Each morning Experiment 177 woke up and inspected her reflection in the cracked, musky mirror, her eyes glossed over the name. Experiment 177 braced her hands on the sink, a feeling of bile rising up in her throat. Her breath came in quick, short bursts. It was happening again. Each morning Experiment 177 woke up, a wave of sickness would roll through her. The world would spin./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" She asked about it, whenever someone was sent inside her Isolation room. The answer was always the same, though: It's normal. At first, she thought they were putting something inside her food./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Then, she wondered why she would even think of that at all./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" She was an experiment. Created by the Superior. Nothing more./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The past few weeks have been strange. She'd begun to grow taller, until her toes peeked out from the sheets on her bed. Her hair grew longer, and her voice deepened. Perhaps that's why she thought there was something in her food and water. Or, perhaps it was the fact that details dating back even a few days were getting harder to remember. All her memories were fuzzy images, broken bridges just beyond the reach of light that she could never touch./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" She didn't even know her name./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" She shut her eyes and shook her head. No, of course she had a name. It was Experiment 177. Although, it was very different from the people who walked in with white lab coats and formal uniform./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The metal door in the corner of her room swung open./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Two scientists entered, followed closely by men holding ridiculously pink rifles./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Experiment 177," One of them acknowledged. "Follow us. Quietly."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Experiment 177 followed them./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Do you know why you're here?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Yes."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Tell me."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "I am your creation. My purpose is to be a weapon. The most powerful weapon on earth." They were the words she's been told whenever somebody came into her Isolation chamber. And the weeks she was left alone, the words bounced off the walls, echoing back at her monotonously, like the ticking of a clock./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior smiled. "That's right. And I presume you've noticed the growth spurts?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" So it wasn't her imagination. She nodded./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "We're doing that to make you stronger. You were young when you first discovered your powers, and you were in the hands of the enemy. They forced you to hide your powers, and they took your memories of this place. That's why you can recognize any of it. Now, you're back. I can teach you to unleash your powers. To let them go wild in the destruction of your enemies. Because deep inside, you know that's what you want."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Experiment 177 bit her lip, staring at the floor. "All I remember is a dark room. I don't remember emotions. I don't even remember growing up here."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "You were born here, and taken at a young age, so your memories were still fragile at the time. However, things will be different now," He stood from his chair, knelt in front of her, and… touched her. He rested his hands on her shoulders, giving a warm genuine smile. It was the most emotional thing Experiment 177 had seen in her entire, short-lived life. "I promise."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" For the first time, Experiment 177 gave a smile./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior rose to his feet. "Do you now who your enemy is?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Yes. The Elite Rebels."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Good," The doors slid open behind Experiment 177 as the Superior continued. "You may leave now. The others are waiting."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Experiment 177 stood up and left./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" When the doors shut behind her, the Superior gave a sick, twisted smirk. Darkness stirred in his eyes. He spoke in a voice dripping with sarcasm, remembering the name that Elite Rebel leader called her. "emAngel/em."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "What's your name?" The woman opposite of her wearing a hoodie inquired./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Experiment 177."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The woman smiled. "I meant your name."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" She dipped her head a little. "…Experiment 177."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Oh. So they didn't give you a name. Then I guess you're like me," She pulled back her hoodie, revealing fuzzy wolf ears and a fluffy tail that swished through the air. "The humans call me Experiment 176, but you may call me Misty."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Experiment 177 blinked. "Are those real?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Misty's ears perked up, showing them off. "Yes! Had them ever since I was born. I'm not human like the rest of them."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Were you born here in the labs?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Misty went silent for a moment. "It's best we don't talk about where we come from around here."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Oh." Experiment 177 didn't question her further./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Over Misty's shoulder, Experiment 177 caught sight of a boy hiding in the shadows, watching them. He seemed… curious./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Who's that?" Experiment 177 pointed at him./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Once the boy noticed that she acknowledged him, he pulled his hoodie lower to shadow his face, and he was gone./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Another one of the experiments. He is lucky he has more freedom than us. He does get bullied, though. For being different. Poor boy. His name is Dan."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Why doesn't he come talk to us?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "He's not allowed to. Ever since the Superior—"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Author sat back in her chair, dragged her hands down her face and groaned. "This is emnot/em going the way I planned it." She stared out the window into the night, looking away from her laptop. Already, her eyes were staring to burn from the high exposure to the screen./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Hm… I could do… Nah, that won't work. I need new ideas!" She closed her laptop screen and sighed. "Whatever. It's late. Normal college students don't stay up until 4 AM writing books and arguing with characters. And we don't talk to ourselves either."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Author shut off her lamp and turned away from the desk, unaware that her laptop screen lit up her keyboard, even as it was closed. She grabbed her water bottle. Empty. She gave the dark staircase a long, distrustful glance./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "What'cha writing?" A dark voice came from behind her./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Author gasped and whirled around. Nobody was there. She sighed and rubbed her eyes, finally realizing how itchy they were. "Better get some sleep. I'm staring to halluci—"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" A crash came from the darkness outside her room./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Author's blood froze inside her. Someone was emdefinitely/em in the house./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" She picked up her desk lamp to use as a weapon, slapping her pockets for her phone./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Looking for this?" The same voice./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Author whirled around, coming face-to-face with a silhouette against the moonlight. He held her phone in his clawed hand, crushing it with two fingers. "Oops. Doesn't matter, anyways. These devices are as out-dated as the old man." He snickered at his own joke./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Who the hell are you?" The Author demanded, raising her lamp over her shoulder, like getting ready to swing a bat. How did this stranger get inside the house? The alarm never went off. Perhaps the crash she heard was a window being blown open./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Are you an author?" He began to close the distance between them./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Author tried to back away, but she hit a wall. "Stay back!" She swung her desk lamp./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The stranger moved at impossible speeds, grabbing the lamp with one hand, and her neck with the other. He blocked her airway. "emAnswer me! Are. You. An. Author?/em" He demanded, his eyes turning blood red./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Author blinked. Must've been a trick of the light, or her mind spitting out images. "Y—Yes! Let me go!" Her mouth opened and closed, futilely trying to fill her lungs with air before they collapsed. Her vision grew dark./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The stranger smiled, showing sharp teeth. "That's all I need to know. I'm surprised you don't recognize me, though."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Shadows swirled out behind him, opening up into a tree of light. The Author swore she saw that tree somewhere before./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The stranger ripped away his hoodie, revealing horns protruding from his skull. The Author gasped, unable to stop herself. He reminded her of Hellboy. But that wasn't why he looked so painfully familiar./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The stranger pressed his ear-piece. "Yeah, I've got her. I'm heading back. This realm sickens me." He turned to face her. "You're coming with me." He began walking back towards the tree as the Author struggled against his iron grip. "Get the fuck away from me, weirdo! LET THE FUCK GO!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The stranger let his feet leave the ground, and they fell backward eminside/em the tree./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Suddenly, the Author was falling into darkness, but she still felt the stranger's grip on her. She struggled harder than ever, kicking and punching at nothing./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Eventually, she felt her foot collide with a stomach. His grip on her throat relinquished, and she took a huge gulp of tainted air./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Then, she was hurtled into the nothing./p 


	9. Chapter 8

p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Silence reigned throughout the base as nightfall descended upon them. Lloyd was the only one awake, watching surveillance. He flipped through the cameras, his eyes narrowing with each passing second. Nothing. Not even a trace of where the Superior had gone, or any signs of blackmail./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" His eyes moved to the desk he sat upon, the monitors hovering over him. Pictures of him, Nox, and Angel littered the desk, along with reports and files. Nox's engagement ring rested beside him, gazing up. Taunting him. His breath caught. He hadn't even looked at it since Nox threw it at him in rage as she proclaimed their separation./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Grounding his teeth, he stood up, his chair toppling over. His swept his arms across the desk, sending the broken memories flying across the carpeted floor./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" A pair of icy blue eyes watched him from the shadows. When he saw Nox's engagement ring roll to his feet, he swiped it up. He pocketed it and disappeared into the shadows./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd braced his hands against the desk and bowed his head between his shoulders, feeling utterly broken. He would've willingly went through another round of hell as a prisoner of the resource war, if it meant bringing Nox back to him./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" His eyes darkened. The Superior was to blame for it all./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Then, something sparked in his mind. A switch was flipped. Broken pieces of a puzzle clicked into place. He moved towards the window, looking out into the night sky, specked with stars. Something bright and powerful darted across the horizon, headed straight for them. It burned with the light of a thousand suns. Lloyd's heart stopped beating as the light collided with the ground, shaking the Earth beneath him. He braced his hands against the wall to keep his balance./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Every Elite Rebel member radioed in at once./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "What the hell's going on?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "We have an unidentified object in our area space."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "emObject/em? That thing sounded huge! It made a crater in the ground!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" After a moment of silence, Romanov spoke up. "A doorway has been opened."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd checked the monitors. "Sensors are picking up high levels of radioactivity."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Element Evil?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Stronger."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "It fell from the sky. Could be an extraterrestrial."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd rolled his eyes at Boomer's comment. "emOr/em, it could be from the Superior. Let's get out there and investigate."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd grabbed his sword and weapons, not needing to get his armor on. He'd been wearing it for the past week, not getting any sleep, and just unleashing all his anger into training./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd met the others in the armory, stocking up on as many weapons as they could carry. They slipped on night vision goggles, not wanting to attract attention to themselves with flashlights./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Elite Rebels journeyed out into the darkness of the forest./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Owls hooted in the trees above them, a chilling wind drifting past. A golden glow permeated through the trees overhead, casting long shadows through the ever-present fog. An overwhelming sense of responsibility fell over the team like the weight of the world. They felt a calling, a need to protect something with their lives./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The glowing died down to a flicker, like a dying candle./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius held his weapon close. "Everyone, stay behind me."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" They moved in./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" In the center of the forest clearing, trees were uprooted and shattered to splinters. A large crater burnt the soil in the ground. In the center of it, a lone girl lay on her stomach, golden light radiating around her. It burned and kissed the air around her in an ethereal way./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" A Fallen Star./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The team fell silent./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd narrowed his eyes. "Do we… know her?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Boomer rolled his eyes at him. "Sure, a girl falls from the sky and you immediately know her."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Shut emup/em, Boomer." Lloyd snarled./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "I'm moving in," Etrius holstered his pistol and clicked off his flashlight. He didn't need it. The light the unconscious girl radiated made the area seem like daytime. Even the trail of fire she left behind turned the sky blue and orange again./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Etrius, emwhat/em are you doing?" Beecher grabbed his shoulder. "You nearly died three months ago, and now you're moving towards that emthing/em without any weapons! How many times do you have to die before you learn?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius yanked himself out of Beecher's iron grip. "I know what I'm doing."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "No. You don't."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius gave him The Glare./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Beecher rolled his eyes. "Fine. Whatever. But at least let me give you come backup."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius grunted in response and moved in closer, slowly climbing his way down the crater hole. He approached the girl. Every step he took only made him want to stay there forever. Beecher remained only a couple steps behind, not denying that he felt the same way as well./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" When Etrius was close enough, he grabbed her shoulder and rolled her onto her back. She had coarse, curly black hair that lightened to rose gold at the tips. She had dark features, wore a Pierce the Veil T-Shirt and ripped jeans. She slightly stirred under the surface of consciousness. Etrius jumped back at the slightest movement. He felt… inferior. Inferior to the teenage girl that fell from the sky like a ball of fire./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He took a deep breath. "Let's get back to base. There's an aura in the air that shouldn't be here."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Agreed," Beecher said with aggravation at his comrade. "There's Element Evil in the air. Let's get out of here."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius reached down and scooped her up into his arms. "Let's move."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Beecher scurried away from him, aiming his sniper at the stranger, although his heart urged him not to. "emAre you insane/em? Put that thing back where it came from, or so help me—"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "No, we should interrogate her," The General descended into the crater. "Nobody with that much power should be allowed to roam free in the forest, especially with a power-hungry Superior on the loose."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" She awoke chained to a chair, but she didn't dare to open her eyes. Feigning unconsciousness, she tried to assess her surroundings before she got into deeper trouble./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Footsteps thudded from some other room, muffled. A door swung open, and multiple footsteps entered the room. She counted at least five men. They spoke in hushed tones. Their voices sounded oddly familiar. Like she remembered hearing them in a faint memory, a distant dream./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Something emclicked/em on the armrests, and something cold and stick was pressed against her forehead temples./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" A violent shock jolted her awake./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" She gasped, eyes flying open. Her vocals chords wouldn't move on command. She couldn't scream. She was paralyzed./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Her vision was hazy, but she managed to focus on the people surrounding her. Green, blue, brown, and red eyes. One of them wore a blue military beret, but he wore the same uniform as everyone else. She'd seen these people somewhere before. Perhaps she'd slightly regained consciousness when they brought her here, and she caught a glimpse of their faces./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" She swallowed hard, trying to remain strong and accept the fact that she might die here. "Who the fuck are you? What do you want from me?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The oldest one who wore a beret sneered. "You know emexactly/em what we want."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Uhh—No, I don't."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" A man with a brown haired ponytail, goatee and beard, and a sword slung across his back approached her, grabbing her by the collar of her Pierce the Veil band T-shirt./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Hey, watch the shirt!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "emWhere the fuck is your base/em!?" He screamed into her face, making her forget completely about taking care of her band shirt. "We're not taking your shit. We know you're a spy!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" She opened her mouth, but no words came out. "emAre you guys insane?/em"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" But his accent… She'd heard it before./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" She narrowed her eyes, only slightly suspicious. Then, she shook her head. No. It wasn't possible. They were just characters. They didn't exist. These were completely different people than the characters her mind made up. They were just all too real./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "She's doing it out of fear," The man in the beret bowed his head, shadowing his eyes so only his mouth moved. "They all are. If anyone gives away their secrets, the Superior kills them, emand/em everyone they love."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The swordsman backed off, but anger still boiled beneath his skin./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Author's heart pounded. "The Superior…?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The green-eyed man tried a different approach. "Listen kid, you look young. You're probably scared shitless. If you tell us, we won't tell your Superior you were here."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "I don't know what you're talking about!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Something in the swordsman snapped. He grabbed her shoulders, snarling into her face. "I WILL FUCKING RIP YOU APART IF YOU DON'T TELL US!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Lloyd, relax!" The man with red eyes and a sniper at his belt grabbed his arm and yanked him away./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "That's strike two, Beecher." The swordsman growled./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" If her mind was capable of being literally blown, it would have at that moment. "Lloyd…? Beecher…? The Superior… You guys… You're from Castle."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" A man with blond hair - she assumed he was Boomer - tossed his hair out of his eyes and scoffed. "Nice try. We're from Earth, just like you and your shitty-ass boss."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "This isn't real… I'm dreaming right now. Right? emYou/emem're/em not real - none of you are!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "So you don't feel like talking," The General's eyes narrowed as his thumb stroked the trigger. The Author was suddenly very aware of the jumper cables connected to her metal chair. Her pulse quickened./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The General growled. "Maybe I can change your mind." She saw the familiar darkness stirring in his eyes. She'd seen that darkness before. She created it./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Despite Lloyd's anger, he saw the familiar flicker of darkness in his eyes and took a step away./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Author shut her eyes. If this truly was a dream, he would press that button and she wouldn't feel any pain. But if she was supposed to be numb, why did the bindings on her wrists and ankles feel so tight?/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "General, stop!" A rough, edgy voice resounded from the speakers mounted in the corner of the room. "Release her."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "You've gone crazy, old man." The General snarled back. "It's no doubt the Superior sent her here. She has information on—"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Dr. Romanov pushed past the iron door that blended into the interrogation room walls. "I said to release her. Now. Because whether you like it or not, your fates are tied."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Author curled her hands into fists, more confused than ever./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "What are you getting at now, crackpot?" Beecher crossed his arms./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Dr. Romanov closed his eyes and bowed his head. "I truly wish you'd stop calling me that. Before the Castle project began, I was working under the General and the Superior. We were working on a top secret project. Very few people were allowed to work on this project, and those that did were sworn into silence."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The General stepped back. "You're not talking about…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Yes."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "…Alright. It's safe to tell them, then. If it's getting this much out of hand." The General shut down the voltage and released the restraints. The Author held her wrists./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "emWhat/em the fuck are you talking about?" Etrius demanded. "More secrets, huh?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "I didn't think it would come to this point," Romanov continued. "The Castle Project wasn't the first discovery of alternate universes. Around the time Nox was discovered living in Jacksonville, I opened the first secret portal that led to a realm far beyond our own. It was so similar to our own, and yet so different. I knew there was a high chance we only existed as a work of fiction, so—"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "emFiction/em?" Nox repeated./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "—So the project was abandoned. For the sake of this world's stability, we couldn't explore it further. The portal was destroyed. But now, you're here," Romanov turned to the Author and held up a glass vile filled with red liquid that glowed a white hue. "Your genetic material is so much different than our own. I took a blood sample when you were unconscious and ran a te—"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "emYou what/em?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "…Just tell me one thing. What happened to you before you entered this world?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "I don't know! I was in my room, writing. Then some nut-job with horns protruding from his head grabbed me and shoved us into a… Wait, are you telling me that all of this is real?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Precisely."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Author burst out laughing./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "I'm afraid this is no laughing matter. If Arthur was in your realm, then the Superior must've rebuilt the portal and found a way to get into your realm."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "This isn't real."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The General was utterly shocked. "emHe/emem's using Arthur/em?!" He paced the room, stopping only to brace his hands against the wall and shut his eyes. "God… We're all fucked."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Who the hell is Arthur?" Beecher demanded. "And how many more secrets are you going to keep behind your back?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The General sighed. "Arthur was an experiment. A genetic mutation of a human, and a demon from the Castle. My DNA was used to try and craft the perfect soldier, but everything went to shit. He turned psychotic, believing only death and destruction was the answer to everything. We had him put to Cryo-Sleep. If the Superior's released him, and he has the ability to reach into the Creator's world… God help us all."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius narrowed his eyes at the Creator as she rose to her feet. "emThis/em is the Creator?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "I'm a lot stronger than you think I am." She didn't fully understand the message in his olive green eyes, but the indignation surged that people emshe/em created should be looking down on her. In emher/em dream, no less./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Creator gazed at each character individually. If she was dreaming, her mind was creating details even stronger than she imagined herself. And if she wasn't, and this was some kind of trick… Only someone who had access to her imagination would be able to replicate this room, and the characters. The grungy texture on the walls and floor, the steady breathing of the characters, the scent of Beecher's cigar, the intense white noise in the air… The details were too accurate, too perfect./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Author took a breath. "Okay. Alright. So if what you're saying is true, then…" She squealed. "I was right! I posted a theory on DeletionQuality about how the characters might be real, just in another dimension. Nobody took it seriously, but I was right!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "DeletionQuality?" Etrius repeated, perplexed./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Romanov grumbled. "Sounds a lot like the sarcasm I received while working on the portal."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The General narrowed his eyes. "What's your name?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Author opened her mouth to respond, but Romanov stood between them. "Ah! Don't! The Superior's done enough damage by rupturing the fabric between our realms. Perhaps it's safer if you kept your identity anonymous, young writer."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Boomer ran his hand through his hair, and Nox tried not to look. "Then what do we call her?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Blue," The Author blurted out. "It's… What the readers back in my realm call me. EternityBlue."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius was silent for a moment. Then he raised his head in expectancy. "Alright, Blue. It looks like you'll be here for a while. And since you know so much about this world, you might as well help us while you're here. We need to find the Superior's base, and find Angel before it's too late. The Superior can only use the portal to a certain extent, because he's not from your world and can't use it to it's full potential like you can. If he did, it would kill him. He's taken a huge risk bringing you to this world. Hopefully, it'll be some time before he can use it again."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Before the Author could follow the team out the doors, Lloyd stopped her and backed her up back into the room. He waited until the team's footsteps faded down the hallway. He and Blue exchanged glances. "You. You control what happens in this world?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Blue shrugged, still not used to the feeling of being trapped beneath the gaze of her characters. She felt cold and vulnerable, as if a warm blanket had suddenly been ripped away from her. "Uhh— Y—yeah, apparently I can. Since everything I've written so far is exactly what's happened in this world."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd's eyes darkened until they looked almost black. His voice adopted a threatening undertone. "Then change it."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "What?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "emChange it/em!" He shouted. "Angel is gone, and Nox won't even look at me because you emhad/em to write it in."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Blue sighed and shut her eyes. "Lloyd… Look, I'm sorry. Alright? I had absolutely no idea that what I did in my writing, affected this world. I didn't even know that this world—that emyou/em—existed! I didn't know I was hurting anyone! And if I did, then I wouldn't have done it. Honestly."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd ground his teeth, every muscle in his body becoming tense. Almost as if he were trying to hold his inner demons inside. "emChange it. Now./emem"/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Blue froze. "I can't! Don't you get it? Whatever happens in this world needs to be written down. And I'm not exactly anywhere near my manuscript right now. And I can't tell what's going to happen in the future, either. I never wrote past the part where… you and Nox separated. If it's not posted for the readers, it's not canon."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Lloyd braced both of his hands on either side of the wall behind her, trapping her in place. His dark eyes bore holes into hers. "Then find a way."/p 


	10. Chapter 9

p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" In the darkness that surrounded him, he saw his own special hell./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd couldn't tell where the shadows ended and the walls began. But he did see a set of monitors in front of him. Each monitor played a different aspect of the past. He saw the discovery of the Ancient's Universe. His early career as an assassin. Meeting Nox. Being captured as a prisoner of war. Angel, and losing her./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He couldn't move. He was bound to a steel chair that fused with the floor./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He sensed a familiar presence in the room. "You just woke me out of my secret grave. What the fuck do you want?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior paced out from behind him, turning to face him with the light of the monitors silhouetting him. His hands were clasped behind his back, and he wore his usual black and red military uniform. It reminded Lloyd of blood and darkness. "Now you're in my world." He bowed his head and gave a low, bone-chilling chuckle. "Did you dream it would be so small?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd curled his hands into fists, but he didn't say anything. emMy little box was perfect, /emem'til you destroyed it all./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior knelt down, staring into his eyes with an unsettling grin. "You know, between you and me, she screams your name when we're alone."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd blinked. "What?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Oh, the Ancient was defiant at first. I don't think I've ever broken someone so stubborn," He added with a chuckle. "I don't know what took you two years to conceive a child. It only took me two weeks."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd's blood ran cold. He shut his eyes and ground his teeth. "Liar. emLiar! /emDon't put all that shit on me and leave me here to bleed."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "You won't find comfort in your suffering, Rebel. Unfortunately, she's been quite unforthcoming as to your team's whereabouts. She won't even tell me your name, though I think already know what it is. It's Lloyd, isn't it? Lloyd Ventrix?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior watched his expression carefully, waiting for him to give away a clue./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd strained against the restraints, anger boiling beneath his skin, but it was futile./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior sighed. "I have to admit, it's been the most… exhilarating experience with your wife— Oh, that's right. She's not your wife anymore." He leaned in and whispered. "She's mine. And so is our new child. And yours."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The four walls that surrounded him from the past fell on down again. Lloyd's breathing grew heavy. His fists trembled. "Shut up…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior continued his mocking diatribe. "It honestly didn't take long. When she gave up resisting, she came down, sharing emso/em many secrets. So fucking brave."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "emSHUT UP!/em"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior backhanded him across the jaw. Blood leaked from the side of his mouth. "Listen, Rebel. I'm giving you a choice here. Hopefully this time you won't fuck it up. Perhaps if you'd just confirm your name… I could let you see her? I'm sure she's just emdying/em to see the man she thought she could rely on. The one she screamed for… No? Hm. Perhaps I was mistaken in your affections."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd's fingers curled into fists so hard, his knuckles turned white and he broke skin./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior continued. "Perhaps you are not the one she begs for. It's finally time she realized it's me she needs. It will make the creation of my Hybrids much… easier. And once I have completed my mission—" He shrugged and stated nonchalantly, "I'll kill you all."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Superior seized his throat, pinching his airway shut. "So you should wake up, Lloyd."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Through hazy vision and a clouded judgment, Lloyd grunted, "Wh—what?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Nox isn't too happy about this. You'd better have a good excuse for missing the meeting."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The world around him fell away, as if made of sand./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd's eyes shot open. He was pinned down on his bed. Someone's cold hands were choking him, vicing his throat./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" His eyes darted wildly around the room before coming to a stop at a pair of bemused blue irises./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "BOOMER!" Lloyd landed a solid punch on his face. Boomer fell back on the carpeted floor with a bleeding nose, but he couldn't stop laughing./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Author leaned against the doorway, yawning. "Dammit Boomer, I thought you were over wrestling people awake."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd shot upright, bumping his head against his top bunk. em"Agk/em!" He shut his eyes, pressing against the bump in his forehead. Then, the realization hit. He threw himself out of bed. "Nox— Where's Nox?!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Author wore a worried expression. Boomer's eyes narrowed. "She's far away from emyou/em, bastard. Luckily for the rest of us, she's still devoted to finding Angel."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Author covered her mouth, suppressing a giggle as she remembered a meme on DeviantArt./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd ignored his insult, running his hands through his loose brown hair, which hung like a curtain over his eyes. "The Superior… I thought… I felt too real. I thought our minds were actually linked, and Nox was gone."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Author sighed, bowing her head. "Could be foreshadowing. I don't have control over the story anymore, so—"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "emNot/em a story," Boomer reminded her irritatedly./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The Author threw her hands in the air. "Whatever! As I was emsaying/em, it looks like we're getting glimpses of what could happen in the future. The shift in reality is bending, and Lloyd has the most vivid visions."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" This time, Lloyd wasn't angry. He felt broken within. Paralyzed by out-of-control forces. "Blue. I saw him. He had Nox - he was creating more Hybrids…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"The Author sighed. "I hope I'm wrong, Lloyd."/p 


	11. Chapter 10

p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"The team met up in the conference room of the base. Etrius was the first one there, hunched over a table with a translucent surface. When the Author was the last one in, he shut all the windows and blinds and killed the lights./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"A blue hologram rose from the table. Etrius approached it, rotating the 3D image with his fingertips. "Here's a full view of the Oregon forest. This is our base—" He zoomed in on Rebel Headquarters. "—This is the spot where Angel was last seen."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"His eyes grew distance in the lush, electric blue light as he recalled the memories. "It's been three weeks since it happened. And right now, Blue, you're our best bet at finding her."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"The Author ran her fingers through her hair, eyes darting through the holographic area. She breathed deeply. "Alright…" Almost instinctively, she moved her way through the hologram, pressing buttons and setting that even Etrius didn't know about./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Etrius raised a brow. "How are you doing that?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"She shrugged. "Instinct, I guess. This is my story, after all." After ten minutes of searching, she gave up. "There's nothing. Wherever this base is, it's not recorded on this map. It's like it doesn't even exist."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Nox curled her hands into fists, knuckles turning white. "Something is wrong. If you can figure out the tech by instinct, you should know where the base is."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;""Well, it's not on the map! What do you expect me to do?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Lloyd approached her. "I still think she's doing this for the 'story'. Tell us where the base is!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;""I don't fucking know!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Etrius slammed his hands into the table. "Everyone, emshut UP/em!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Silence reigned through the team. Etrius hadn't used that commanding tone of voice since he'd been in the military./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"He took a breath and composed himself. "Fighting like this will get us nowhere. We're running out of time, so either we work as a team and find Angel, or all hell breaks loose. Do I make myself clear?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"The team stiffened and faced Etrius. "Yes."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"The Author blinked, fascinated just by how fast the team was able to focus back on the task at hand rather than endless Roasting. emAt least they're better than the teams I'm put with at school./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;""Good. Let's focus on what we emdo/em know. The Superior can only use the portal to a certain extent. Since he's a character, and not a Creator, he can't use it to it's full potential. If he did, it would kill him. So we have some time before he can use it again."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Something clicked in Blue's mind. "Maybe if we go out into the physical world, I might have an easier time finding it."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Etrius stroked his chin. "That could work. Leading us straight to the source. Alright everyone, get ready and armor up. We leave in five."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Blue swallowed down panic, knowing she emhad/em to do this if she was going to get back home. Although she couldn't help but admire the way Etrius had total confidence in his team - the way everyone took orders without question. Everyone trusted one another. And while Blue could trust them, they had a hard time trusting Blue./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Blue followed the rest of the team out of the conference room and towards the armory. But before she could get far, The General stopped her. He waited until the rest of the team was out of sight, and even then, he spoke in a quiet tone. He looked at her with the slightest tinge of hope. Something even Blue hadn't seen before. "Give it to me straight."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Blue stared at him in utter surprise./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;""That past… Did you create it?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"It took Blue a moment to understand what he was talking about, and when he did, she avoided his gaze. "Obviously, I did." She took a breath and summoned the courage to look at him straight on. "But that doesn't change the person who you are today."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;""Then… It's true. The darkness will come back. Nobody is safe. Not from me, not from the Superior."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Blue's eyebrows creased together. "Only if you choose to let the darkness consume you. But I don't think it will. You've come so far."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"The General's mind traveled back as the pages of his memories flipped open. He shivered as he remembered the trauma from so long ago, yet the pain was still fresh as if it were inflicted minutes ago. "Can't you change it?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;""Well, that seems to be the question of the day," The Author crossed her arms, but there was sympathy in her eyes. "The past can never be undone. Your lives are more than just a book that can be written and edited. It's more than just a story. It's the truth."/p 


	12. Chapter 11

p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" align="center" emAustin, Texas 2005/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emThe Superior straightened his beret and walked towards the orphanage. He was in his late twenties at the time, owning a private agency that hired assassins and skilled workers. The hot sun beat down in the cloudless sky, baking the vast fields of grass./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emThe Superior knew a war was coming. It didn/emem't take a genius to know that rising populations, global warming and decreasing water supply would lead to a resource war. He wasn't part of the majority of the population who naively turned a blind eye to the coming Armageddon./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emBut he wasn/emem't looking for a way to make things better for mankind. In fact, he welcomed war and the spoils it had to offer. But for now, he was looking for something to bond with. Something that would grow into a war machine in the future, and turn the tides of the coming war to his favor./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emHe walked inside, the the air conditioning of the facility immediately surrounded him. He made his way to the front desk. /emem"He's ready?" He inquired the owner./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emThe woman looked up from her computer. She glared at him. /emem"Are you really sure you want him? He's known to be one of the… /emtroubledem kind of kids./emem"/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" em"We went over this."/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" em"I'm always told to warn the adults before picking children like this. He has these… problems."/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emThe Superior/emem's mouth twitched. "He's exactly what I'm looking for."/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emThe owner gave a nonchalant shrug. /emem"Your funeral." She pushed a button on her desk, speaking into the mic. Her bitchy voice resonated through the hallways of the orphanage. "CHILD NUMBER 1 TO THE FRONT."/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emMinutes later, the doors swung open and the Superior was welcomed inside an isolated room to meet the orphan./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emThe doors shut behind him, and an 11 year old boy was shoved inside the same room, wearing handcuffs. They were taken off and he was ordered to approach the Superior./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emWhen they left, the boy remained standing in place and seemed completely uninterested in the Superior. His eyes remained glued to the floor, so he couldn/emem't see their color. Instead, The Superior closed the distance between them./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emHe smiled. /emem"Ready to go home?"/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emThe boy sneered and finally met the Superior/emem's gaze. He had icy cobalt blue eyes and a steely gaze. He was young and destructive, but smart. Very smart. The Superior knew the boy immediately didn't like him. He didn't mind. It would only strengthen his anger in the future./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emThe Superior knelt down to his level. /emem"Will you tell me your name?"/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emThe boy gave him a look like a wolf about to devour it/emem's prey. "I don't need to tell you anything. Besides, I don't have a name. I'm Child Number 1."/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emThe Superior smiled. He liked him already. /emem"Alright then, Child Number 1. Here's the deal. I'm going to offer you more money than any 11 year old boy would dream of having. Money, a place to stay, luxuries, anything you ask for, you can have."/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emThe boy gave him a side eye glare. /emem"What's the catch?"/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" em"I'm going to train you."/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emThe boy scoffed, as if the Superior just told the worst joke in the world. /emem"Train me. For what?"/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" em"I'll train you for war. Do we have a deal?"/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emThe boy remained silent, and the Superior could tell by the stirring thoughts in his eyes, he was mulling it over. Finally, he gave a hesitant nod./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emThe Superior grinned, showing straight white teeth. /emem"Perfect. Life is about to get a whole lot better for you, son."/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emThe Superior removed his beret and slapped it on the boy/emem's head. It nearly covered his blue eyes. The Superior's mouth lifted up at the side in a half smirk. "It suits you, Creticus."/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"emBut the Superior wasn/emem't smiling at the boy. He was smiling at the darkness inside of him./em/p 


	13. Chapter 12

p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Blue's heart was pounding as she followed the team into the humvee parked outside. She couldn't believe it. She was actually going on a mission with the team. While her heart squealed with joy, her soul groaned in pain as she saw Lloyd climb into the seat beside her. Either to keep an eye on her in case she did anything reckless, or some other reason. Whatever it was, she felt trapped inside herself whenever she was near him. She thought about the reason why she created his character in such a way… Then shook her head, reminding herself not to return to the memories. She made a mental note to tell Lloyd the truth, about why she made him and Nox break up. It wasn't for some stupid plot device. There was a much deeper meaning behind it… But not now. Not in front of the team./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd lowered Angel's sword to Timber's nose so he could get a good smell of it again. In minutes, they were on the trail. Timber weaved through the woods, Boomer following with his humvee, and Nox following behind with the other team members. Boomer kept his eyes on Timber's tail as he navigated his way through the thicket, never letting him get out of site./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Eventually, Timber brought them right back to the same place Etrius was found nearly dead./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Boomer slammed his hands into the wheel and leaned his neck against the back cushion of the chair. He sighed. "Dead end."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Blue's eyes narrowed as she peered through the front windshield. "Wait…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd whipped his head around to face her. "This place look familiar?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "No, but…" She couldn't say it in words, but she felt a sensation. A calling. She pointed towards the left. "It's that way. I know it."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Boomer said nothing, knowing that Blue was their only chance. Instead of questioning her, he called Timber to jump inside the humvee with them, and then turned left. Nox followed close behind./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" A cold wind nipped at Blue from the right. "Turn right."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "That leads off the track."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Exactly."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Boomer remained frozen before obeying./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" He continued to follow Blue's instructions for another three hours. The rest of the team began to become irritated after not finding anything./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Soon, the low droning of chopper engines could be heard in the distance. Boomer slowed down so their humvees wouldn't get heard, and eventually travelled the rest of the way on foot./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Through a forest clearing, they saw the Superior's base perched on a mountainside./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Boomer glanced down at his watch GPS. "Jeez, it's no wonder we couldn't locate the base. It was built off the grid. The Superior's satellite blocks any other frequency from getting in."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" A helicopter pad was built over a foggy canyon, with humvees driving into the mouth of a garage that was built into the mountain. They were carrying weapons. And not just guns, but empty nuke shells. Lloyd thought of Angel. The more he thought about what the Superior planned to do with her power, the more the anger manifested inside of him. His grip on his sword tightened, and he ran his teeth against each other. Blue noticed the subtle changes in character, the traits she'd given him herself./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "C'mon," Lloyd growled. "Let's move."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" They approached the foot of the mountain, remaining on the opposite end to avoid being spotted./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "It's too risky using radio signal," The General spoke up. "We can't use satellite, and if we do, our frequency will be spotted and our cover blown."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Beecher glared at him. "Who died and made you Etrius?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Can we emnot/em talk about my multiple deaths so casually?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The General crossed his arms and glared at him beneath his beret. A look that would've surely scared other newbie soldiers, but wasn't enough to phase Beecher. "Who else knows this base more than I do?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nobody responded./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Exactly." The General snorted./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Etrius stroked his chin, a trait that usually showed when he was thinking deeply about something. "But you're still an outcast. If they find you inside the base, and arrest you. You're no good to us dead."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "emOr/em alive." Beecher spat./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Lloyd grabbed the front of his shirt. "Enough, Beecher! We're here for Angel! Now you're either going to get your shit together and help, or you're going to slow us down and get out of our way."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" When he set Beecher down again, Beecher gave him a side scowl but said nothing./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox inquired. "General, you know the password to the Superior's satellite?" It felt strange calling him by his old title, but he wouldn't even give his real name./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Not all of them," He responded. "I can get us access to most satellite feeds and information about the base."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Great. If we can get information on Angel, we can find her." Nox summed up an entire ten minutes of arduous fighting and dragged the team across the mountainside towards the base, remaining beneath the canopy of trees to avoid being spotted by satellite cameras./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The General led them up the base's mountain towards a garage with no security. Etrius snuck in first with directions about each hallway from the General. With inhuman stealth, he took out most security guards before they could even get a chance to shoot. They hid the bodies, but they knew it was only a matter of time before anyone realized they were missing. If the Superior cared about his men at all./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The General lead them towards the center of the base, where the monitoring room would be. Etrius shut down the cameras and ushered everyone inside the room, locking the door behind them. Their faces glowed in the light of the monitors./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Blue still couldn't believe all this was real. Every world, every detail, even the details she didn't write down, were right there in front of her./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The General inputted several passwords, cursing under his breath. "He changed most of them."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Can you guess them?" Boomer asked./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "If I can enter every possible combination at the speed of light, yes. They're certain numbers and letters in a certain order. They don't make sense."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The General managed to get them access into one folder. He opened it up. "It says… Lunch is delivered to Buliding 12."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Nox sighed. "Well, that's useless."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Wait," Something hit Blue. "Building 12? I wrote Building 12 as the prison chambers. Angel must be in Building 12."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The General's eyes narrowed. "We should split up."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "emWhat/em?" Nox and Lloyd said in unison./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Angel could be in Building 12. She could be with the Superior. She could be anywhere in the building. We don't know for sure if she's in Building 12."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"Beecher pressed his lips together. He did emnot/em like where this was going./p 


	14. Chapter 13

_Unknown Location  
2005_

 _"You need more work on your aim, son."  
"I said don't fucking call me that!" Creticus fired back at the Superior. He threw down the pistol he was holding at his feet.  
The Superior's mouth formed into a thin line and he exhaled through his nose. "Why do I even bother with you?"  
"I don't fucking know. You're the one who decided this was a good idea!" Creticus stormed out of the training room, teeming with anger. The Superior didn't say it, but the boy was making progress. He internally smiled at seeing the darkness in his eyes. Soon, the tides of the coming war would turn to their favor.  
The Superior followed closely behind Creticus as he marched through the halls of the Superior's private facility. "Why are you following me?"  
"You're not done with your training."  
"I am!" Creticus turned to face him. "This is all pointless. What if the resource war never comes, and you're wrong? I'll have wasted all my time with this worthless training. What the fuck am I even training for?!"  
"You'll figure it out once everything goes downhill."  
"That's what you've always told me since the day I arrived here!" He shoved him away, hating the mere presence of him. "You're keeping secrets from me. You haven't told me what I'm training for, or where the fuck this place even is. I'm done."  
Before the Superior could say another word, Creticus rounded a turn into the dorm hallway and disappeared inside his room.  
Creticus remained standing in the center of his dorm, staring at the door. He knew the Superior was still standing outside, but he wasn't going to open the door. Once his shadow swept away from under his door, Creticus sighed, feeling the perpetual weight on his mind lift. He drove his hand against the steel wall, causing his knuckles to bleed. This whole thing was a lie. He only pretended to hate the Superior, but really, he didn't want to stop the training. It wasn't even_ training _. The Superior was showing him interrogation methods on captured enemy soldiers or rebels. Showing him the quickest way to kill someone, or the slowest. The Superior wasn't manifesting his skill. He was manifesting his darkness.  
Creticus looked at the door, then outside his window, where the fall leaves and dead tree branches scratched against the glass. He threw open his window and leaped to the ground, avoiding the gazes of any security cameras. He didn't recognize the place he was in. He'd never been outside of Texas, and the entire plane ride he'd been blindfolded. Whatever the Superior had to hide, it was deadly. His back pocket suddenly felt heavy. He produced his magnum caliber from his back pocket. It was the only thing left from the life he didn't remember. He did know it was passed down from generation to generation.  
Creticus looked up at the sky, the sun setting behind the distant mountains and casting long shadows along the landscape. "Why did you leave me?"  
He remained standing in the same position before disappearing into the nearby forest that lay nestled between the mountains. He checked his magnum caliber to see if it was fully loaded, then crouched down into the bushes and waited. A pack of wolves moved past him. He aimed at the alpha, and then pulled the trigger. The pack, frightened by the sudden sound, bolted, but the alpha limped, his back leg bleeding.  
Creticus pulled back the hammer of his magnum and approached the wolf, feet crunching against the grass. The wolf noticed him approaching and bared his teeth, snapping at him. Creticus aimed and fired his gun again at his other leg. He wasn't trying to kill it. He was drawing out the process as much as possible. The wolf was howling out in agony at this point. Creticus pressed his knee against the wolf's rib cage, keeping him pinned to the ground. He tightened his fingers around his snout, blocking his airway. The wolf struggled and twitched in his grasp, and after several long moments of agony, it died.  
Creticus kicked the wolf away, leaving it for larger predators.  
The darkness had become an addiction, and he could no longer resist it. From that moment, he knew he would forever be a pawn - a prisoner to his own darkness. Eventually, he would become just like the Superior. It was only a matter of time until he ruined someone else's life._

"We go in, and we fight as a team," Etrius said, bringing his team together and shutting up the arguing. "We go back out into the facility and take out the guards in each building towards building 12, then finally Lloyd and Nox find Angel."  
Lloyd and Nox gave each other deadpan glances, and Etrius rolled his eyes. "You two have the best chance of finding her. She'll recognize you two if the Superior did something to her memories. Whether you like it or not, she's also part of this team, and her power is a threat to humanity in the wrong hands. Get your shit together, and let's find her!"  
After getting their shit together courtesy of Etrius, the team ran out of the monitoring room and back into the hallways. This time, they pounded and shot their way through the guards and stray soldiers. Boomer was the first one to remain behind, guarding the building so the others could go through. Next was Etrius. Beecher noticed a sniper perched on top of a catwalk with keen eyes. He had his sights on Lloyd. "Lloyd!" He shouted, bringing him to the ground. The sniper fired, lodging a bullet in his shoulder blade. He collapsed to the ground, bleeding out. The General noticed everything happening in slow motion. He moved in front of the fallen rebels, aiming his revolver. He launched a bullet into the sniper's forehead, and he collapsed forward over the catwalk, landing on the ground with a _thump_.  
Beecher was bleeding heavily, a red puddle forming on the floor beneath him. He ground his teeth together, noises of anguish grounding low in his throat. Etrius ripped off a piece of his shirt and used it as a gauze to stop the bleeding. "He needs medical attention."  
"We can't pull back now!" Lloyd argued. "Not when we're so close."  
"Beecher just took a bullet for you, you son of a bitch!"  
Nox couldn't wait anymore. "I'm going ahead. Whether you all follow me or not is up to you." Without another word, she darted into building 12.  
"Nox!" The General shouted after her, but she'd already vanished. "She can't be alone with him. The rest of you, pull back. I'll find her."  
Etrius dragged his hands down his face. "What the fuck is it with this team and running off?" Regardless, The General took off after Nox.

Nox darted into building 12, eyes darting wildly around the room. It was surprisingly empty. She didn't have her powers anymore, but there were times when she could sense Angel's power in the air, like fog signaling a coming storm. She couldn't even feel it this time. Her eyes darkened. The Author was wrong. She wasn't in building 12.  
Without warning, the doors shut behind her, and all the windows were barred shut. Nox whirled around, seeing the Superior standing behind her, glaring at her with eyes of unspeakable evil. He looked like a monster.  
Nox held back the scream rising in her throat. She raised her sword, but the Superior was faster. He backhanded the blade out of her grip, seizing her throat with ice cold hands, sending shivers down her spine.  
In seconds, he removed all weapons from her belt and pockets, completely disarming her. "So, you're the one who created the hybrid with that swordsman."  
" _Go to hell_." Nox spat, launching the bottom of her foot into his stomach. It didn't phase him. He backed her against the wall, pinning her in place. He suddenly looked twice as big as she did, and he knew every struggling move before she did it. His covetous gaze turned lustful as his eyes traveled down her body. She could almost feel it like a physical touch, and it sickened her. "Let go, creep!"  
The edges of the Superior's mouth tipped up. "The Crystal Shard gives me enhanced strength, and knowledge of the Ancient race." In one motion, he yanked her swiftly against him, his breath hot on her cheek. "I know exactly where to touch you, Ancient. I can give you so much more than that bastard swordsman."  
Nox opened her mouth to shout back something rather vile, but the Superior crushed his mouth against hers.  
Nox tried to kick and bite, but he only laughed and held her closer, suffocating her with a passion that had boiled inside of him for weeks. Her stomach was in her throat. She couldn't breathe. His mouth moved from her lips to her neck, and he bit down hard. Nox screamed Lloyd's name, but he slammed a hand over her mouth.  
The next few seconds were about to get interesting.  
Without warning, a blast of light exploded between them. Nox was shoved against the wall, and the Superior was hurled across the room by an invisible force. Nox looked down at her hands, but it wasn't her powers that did this. She glanced at the door. Blue stood with her hands extended, the same light fading away into her skin. She glanced down at them, then ran to help Nox to her feet. "Are you alright?" Blue's voice was shaking. "I swear, I didn't make him do it. He's out of my control."  
"It's- It's okay." Nox stood to her shaking knees. "I've survived worse shit." Then, she realized something. "I'm sorry if me or Lloyd said anything before. We need to work together if we're going to live through this."  
They glanced back at the Superior's still body. "He won't give us answers." Blue assumed. "And we can't waste our time here if Angel is somewhere in the building. Let's go. We'll deal with him later." They took off down the next hallway. The Superior was barely awake as he watched the Author leave. He smiled.

The General burst through a pair of double doors, finding another lab. He cursed underneath his breath. Minutes felt like hours, and he hadn't even found Nox yet. The hallways to get to the lab portion of building 12 were empty. Almost as if the Superior _wanted_ them to find him. Footsteps. Behind him. He whirled around, aiming his gun and pulling the trigger. The woman standing behind him raised her arms, a protecting force field appearing around her and catching the bullets in the field. The General's breath caught. It was just like so many years ago, when he first captured Nox back in Jacksonville. He recognized the eyes glowing with fiery, silent rage.  
"Angel?" The General recognized some of her features, but she was... older. Ten years older. He lowered his weapon. "What... Did he do to you...?"  
Angel's eyes softened as she gave the man a second glance. Despite herself, she couldn't help but think he looked familiar. His face, his voice, even the weapon he had in his hands, now pointed away from her. He dropped it to the floor and raised his hands, in a gesture that showed he meant no harm.  
She shook her head. _Of course he's familiar. The Superior warned me about him. He's the enemy. But... Can't bring myself to take him down. Why?  
_ The General fearlessly took two steps towards her. "You look so much like Nox. And Lloyd. Whatever The Superior did, you're safe now. Let's go home."  
Angel's first instinct was to raise her shield. She took a step back. "Stay away from me!"  
The General's brows creased together. "Angel?"  
Angel raised her shield, her heart rate accelerating. "Stay back!"  
The General put the pieces together, and his heart plummeted. "No..." Acting quickly, he radioed in the team. "Nox, Lloyd, It's... I've found Angel."  
"WHERE?!" They both demanded in unison.  
"Something's wrong. She doesn't remember me. The Superior did something to her. She's in-"  
White hot, blinding pain shot through his spine. The floor rushed up to meet him, and he collapsed on the ground. His bones aching, he whirled around, seeing another familiar silhouette with glowing blue eyes. The General's eyes widened. "It's... not... possible. You're supposed to be dead."  
The man knelt down to his level and grabbed the back of his neck, pinning him against the floor. "I'm disappointed in you, old man. Disappointed in my own creator. I'm so much better than you ever were, and ever will be."  
Angel relied on her instinct again and ran between them. "Arthur, stop! We don't know who-"  
Arthur shoved her away. "I know _exactly_ who he is." He thrust an accusing finger in The General's direction. "This son of a bitch ruined my life - our life! You're just going to let him live!?"  
Angel had to think quickly. She wanted to question the stranger, but she couldn't do it if he was dead. "The Superior wants him brought in alive. Control yourself!"  
Arthur blinked away the light in his eyes. He looked down at The General, at his mercy. With a powerful blow, he knocked him out in one punch. "Fine. Bring him to the prison rooms. I'll be giving this bastard the worst treatment. And don't try to stop me this time." He cast her a warning glare before leaving the room. Angel glanced down at the unconscious stranger, a trickle of blood running down his forehead. Arthur had mentioned someone in his past who ruined his life. If this was the same man, and he looked familiar to her, it couldn't be a coincidence.

Nox and the Author darted through the halls of building 12. Nox had lost contact with the General and was slowly going insane if she didn't find them. "Alpha 2, come in! Come in, Alpha 2!"  
The Author slowed to a stop, and so did Nox as she noticed. "What's wrong?"  
The Author stared down the hallway they were in. "Do you... hear that?"  
A low, guttural growl resounded from the opposite end of the hallway. " _Rrrrraugh_..."  
The Author held her breath. "Evils. I sense them."  
Nox's eyes narrowed. "You sense-?" She was right. A crowd of fifteen Evils ran along the walls and ceiling, their blank eyes staring ahead. Their claws grew longer, and Blue could only imagine what they were meant for. Blue was paralyzed, but Nox was better trained to handle situations like this. She grabbed the Author's arm, wrenching her out of the hallway and away from the crowd of evils. They came across Lloyd and the rest of the team. Lloyd ran out to meet them halfway, about to ask if they had Angel. But as soon as he saw the hungry Evils coming after them, he turned and ran the other way. Boomer grabbed Beecher and carried him with superior strength. But Evils crawled in through every vent and corridor. They were surrounded.  
Etrius drew close to his team, firing at any evils that came too close. But they weren't focused on the team. They were focusing on Blue. They clawed at her shirt and hair. One of them grabbed her ankle and tried to yank her into the crowd. She screamed, and Lloyd took its head off with a swing of his blade. Etrius pulled her against him, acting as a protective shield from the onslaught. For the first time in her life, Blue felt like she was in real danger. She'd watched movies and played horror videogames, but non could surpass the feeling it was to be on the brink of death. "BOOMER!" Etrius shouted.  
"On it!" Boomer reached into his belt with his free hand, unhooking a grenade. He unclipped it with his teeth and hurled it into the crowd. Etrius covered Blue's ears as the explosion shook the room, creating a clear path to the door. Before she evils could shake off the shock, the team was through the doors and out of the facility. Nox ran faster than the team and started up their humvees. Boomer hurled more grenades while Etrius fired his uzis at the army rushing out of the facility. As soon as they reached the humvees, they sped back to base, eventually outrunning the evils.  
Blue's heart was pounding. "He's... He's cloning them. I've never seen so many."  
"Where's The General?" Etrius searched around his team.  
Blue glanced back at the retreating form of the base. "Captured, I'm guessing. He saw Angel. Her memories are... gone."  
Lloyd dragged his hands down his face, his shoulders shaking. Nox ran her hands through her hair, which had become undone in the battle. "God, why..."  
Blue's eyes scanned everywhere as she searched through every possibility running through her mind. "I'll bring her memories, back. When all this is over, I'll rewrite everything. I'll fix this!"  
Lloyd's fingers were scrunched through his hair as he leaned forward, his spine showing through his shirt. Blue had never seen him look so... broken. "It's too late, Blue."  
"No. it's not! There's always another way out."  
"We don't even know how to get you back home," Etrius told her, but his eyes remained on the dirt paved road ahead as he drove. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel. "The Superior has that information, and we lost two team members because of it, and nearly lost a third." He glanced at Beecher, who's wounds were bandaged up, but his breathing still shallow. "There _is_ no alternative, Blue. You're stuck here, so you're going to have to make the best of it. I'm sorry."


	15. Chapter 14

_Unknown Location  
2007_

 _Creticus was in his room, kneeling down beneath his bed. A thin shaft of sunlight poured through the window, catching against a spiderweb beneath the bed. Creticus reached in, his fingers grasping a spider. He pulled himself out, the spider writhing in his hand. He stared at it's suffering. Then, he made it suffer more. One by one, he individually tore off each of it's legs, torturing it until it died.  
In another room, the Superior watched him with triumph in his eyes, and pride in his soul. One of the guards were nearby, watching and waiting. "Sir?"  
The Superior continued watching. "He's making progress, even without my help. I think he's ready. Have the prisoner ready for us."  
The guard saluted. "Yessir." And he was out the door.  
The Superior emerged from the monitoring room, making his way to Creticus's room. The Superior expertly picked through the many locks that Creticus installed into his door. When he swung it open, Creticus leaped from the floor, grabbed the Superior by his suit, and flung him against the wall. He held him in place, but there was panic in his eyes. The Superior could almost read his mind. "You were watching me." Creticus growled. "I'm not stupid. I can see your security cameras. I've been in the monitoring rooms."  
The Superior bowed his head and chuckled. "I'm proud of you."  
Creticus froze, but immediately threw his mental walls back up, his eyes darkening. "You're trying to let my guard down."  
"No. You're exactly the kind of soldier I've always been looking for. The one I want to train. I'm proud you're allowing the darkness to manifest inside you. But your hunger is not being sated."  
Creticus watched him carefully.  
The Superior smiled, slowly lowering Creticus's defense. "Come. Let me show you something that'll satisfy you even further."  
The Superior swiftly emerged from the room. After a few moment frozen in place, Creticus followed him.  
The Superior brought Creticus to the lowest floor underground. Creticus had never been here. He led him to a cell the most heavily guarded, with a man chained inside. When he saw the Superior approaching, he stood up and tried to back away, but the chains held him down. A guard opened the door for them. "This is one of my... closest allies. He betrayed me. Tried to sell us out." The Superior explained, gesturing to the prisoner.  
The prisoner looked him in the eyes, filled with pain and begging for forgiveness. "Sionis, you don't have to do this!"  
_That _set the Superior off somehow. He slammed the bottom of his boot against his face. "_ Don _'_ t _call me that, traitor. You knew what we did here was illegal. You knew what we were getting into. You tries exposing us. So the government would know."  
Creticus was confused. "Aren't we going to become part of the government eventually? Why would he do this?"  
The Superior sighed and shook his head. "I'm going to _buy _the government eventually. I've foreseen a major catastrophe in the future. World governments will become desperate. I have the only solution. They'll fall at my feet like dogs. We'll not only own the United States. We'll rule the world."  
The Superior gestured to a table with multiple weapons laid out. He looked at Creticus, then left the room, leaving him alone with the prisoner. Creticus looked at the weapons, then at the man lying helpless. He looked up at the boy. "Please... If he hasn't corrupted you..."  
Creticus picked up a dagger, closing the distance between them. "He's already corrupted me." Creticus whispered, deadpan.  
The prisoner looked up at him. "Then you know this is wrong!"  
The General smirked. "That's why I'm doing it."_

The General's eyes opened, but his vision was still dark and blurred, with colorful figures moving across his line of vision. His ears picked up voices, but they sounded distant, like a fading frequency. When the disorientation vanished and the room took shape, his heart pound against his rib cage. He knew exactly where he was. And he needed to get out.  
The Superior stepped in front of him with a smile tipping up the edges of his mouth. But he said nothing. His mere presence was intimidating enough. A bullet to the head would've been less intimate.  
The General realized he was seated in a chair in an interrogation room. But he wasn't wearing any restraints. On the opposite side of the glass, he could see faint details of guards keeping watch. He could snap the Superior's neck right now. But he didn't want to. Not with the history behind the two of them.  
Refusing to show weakness, The General stood up to his full height and crossed his arms, even though his head was pounding and his bones set alight with pain.  
Seeing the lengths Creticus was willing to go to show he was stronger, The Superior turned away, picking up a nearby bottle of whiskey next to a recording camera and mic. He filled up two glasses.  
Creticus raised a brow. "There's only two of us."  
"Exactly." The Superior offered him a full glass with a smile.  
Creticus frowned. "I know it's drugged."  
The Superior stared at him for a moment before he chuckled, a spine-chilling sound. "I don't need you to tell me the truth about anything. I already know it. You betrayed us all, and sided with those rebels. Why?"  
Creticus tried to keep his expression neutral. He didn't want to give away any signs of lies. Keeping the truth hidden was a talent of his. "I was only trying to get information from them."  
The Superior snorted, shaking his head. Creticus ground his teeth. Nothing had changed about this man. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that? Twenty years of spying? I've known you for years, son. I can spot a lie."  
"Don't call me that."  
The Superior suddenly seemed twice as tall as he was. Whether it was his imagination, or something else, he didn't know. "Element Evil?"  
"No, but close. You're _team_ isn't the only ones with copies of the Wise One's books. I may no longer have Element Evil, but the incantations in the book made me more than human. How to manipulate the brain. Taking away the memories of that bastard child was easy."  
The General's eyes widened as he remembered Angel. What he did to her. His eyes darkened, and he couldn't hold back anymore. Pulling his elbow back, he launched his fist into the Superior's face. The man stumbled back, holding onto the steel table for balance. The guards situated outside looked shock at the sudden act. They watched the Superior intently, as if expecting him to rip The General apart. But he didn't. He rose to his feet and chuckled, his black eye quickly healing. "You spent a lifetime harvesting that darkness within you. Using it to rise to power."  
With a newfound speed, The General pinned him against the wall, quickly running through multiple possibilities in his mind. How to get rid of the Superior. But this time, he couldn't bring himself to.  
The Superior gave another triumphant smile. "You can't get rid of your darkness that easily, son."  
"I SAID DON'T FUCKING CALL ME THAT!" HE prepared himself for another punch, but the Superior seized his wrists, nearly breaking them. He viced his throat with his fingers, raising him until his feet left the floor, and he dangled. Creticus gasped for breath, clawing at the Superior's hand, his eyes rolling up. Once the Superior decided he had enough, he let him drop to the floor. "I will awaken it again."  
The General remained down until the Superior left. He forced himself to his feet and tried to make it to the door in time before it locked.  
He heard the _click_ of the lock before he slammed his shoulder against it, in a futile attempt to get it open. He hurled his fists against the door in defeat. He had to find Angel, and get her back to Romanov somehow. He could fix that the Superior had broken. And if he couldn't, then the Author could.  
But there was something inside his chest. Swirling and popping, and it was as addicting as he remembered it. Like listening to a good song on repeat.  
He shut his eyes. It was the darkness.  
The Superior had awakened it.


	16. Chapter 15

The team returned to base with a broken humvee and broken team.

Etrius and Boomer carried an unconscious Beecher out of the humvee and towards the base. Etrius collapsed halfway, and Dr. Romanov, who had been watching from the entrance, ran towards them. "What happened?! Where are the others?"

Etrius coughed up blood. "Dead, or worse."

Romanov tried to get Etrius on his feet, but he shoved him away. "No, help him first."

He gestured at Beecher before falling to his side.

Romanov retrieved a wheel stretcher and wheeled Beecher inside while Boomer dragged Etrius in, Timber pulling at his shirt with his teeth, trying to help.

Blue leaned on Nox for support as they limped inside the base. Lloyd lingered behind, his eyes to the ground and remained silent.

Blue was disoriented, and would've fallen to the ground had Nox not caught her. Red veins were inching their way through the whites of her eyes.

Nox's eyes widened as they darted to her shoulder. "Blue, you're bitten!"

Blue followed her gaze to her shoulder, where blood seeped through the white fabric of her shirt. Her breath quickened, her heart racing.

She remembered the bite wound in the castle animation. Watching it from behind her computer screen looked cool and full of gore. But experiencing the bite first hand was nothing short of terrifying. Pain. Excruciating pain that just kept coming like a storm that never ends. It burned and sizzled like acid, as if someone had injected hot oil beneath her skin. She was on the verge of tears. It hurt more than when she first crash landed into this world, and Etrius found her unconscious in the crater.

Nox practically carried her the rest of the way to the infirmary. "Romanov!"

Romanov grumbled as he worked quickly through Beecher's bullet wound. Every time these rebels left the base, they returned with life-threatening injuries. He lost count of how many times he stitched them up. But when he saw Blue enter the clinic with an Evil bite, his heart raced. His first thought was to perform research to better understand Evils. But seeing the dying look on Blue's face changed his mind. He dropped everything and laid Blue in a quarantine chamber. Beecher could survive in the few hours it would take to treat her. He pulled on gloves, new scrubs and a gas mask.

He could already feel his inner prescience fading as Blue slipped away. The rest of the team could feel it too.

An Author's soul was connected with her characters. If Blue died, the rest of the team would follow.

Blue stared transfixed at the surgery light above her head, fear and pain filling her eyes. Romanov injected morphine and anesthetic into her system, speaking words to calm her down. There was a reason Romanov was the best surgeon in the Castle Project.

As Blue went under the surface of consciousness, Romanov got to work on the bite.

Hours have passed since they first stepped through those gates of the Superior's base. It was 3 AM, and the team was still awake. Etrius watched Blue recovering in quarantine from behind the glass, his forearm leaning against it.

Romanov approached him, his voice solemn. "She'll make it. The bite won't do anything to her. She's surprisingly... Immune to it."

Etrius let out a pent up breath through his nose. "I'm still worried."

Romanov raised a brow. "You never worry about anyone else except your team."

"I know what I said. But our lives depend on her." There was only partial truth in that. He was the one who found her lying in the forest. The one most motivated to get her back home. The one with the most faith that she could find Angel. And she did. She brought them so close. But it came at a price.

Etrius ground his teeth as he fled the infirmary room. He entered the armory and began arming himself with guns and knives. Beecher caught him on the act. "What are you doing?"

"The General is still back there," Etrius clipped on a belt. "The Superior could get information on where we are."

Beecher gave him a doubtful glance. "You're going back to keep us safe, or you're going back for him?"  
" _Don't_."  
"Stop letting your anger cloud your judgment, Etrius." Beecher's eyes burned with someone undecipherable. "If we couldn't get the job done together, then you don't stand a chance alone. It's a suicide mission. Just stay here."  
Etrius remained silent. Then, he let the belt full of weapons clatter to his feet, and he left the armory.

Blue regained consciousness, soft light filling her eyes. The repetitive _beep, beep, beep_ of heart monitoring equipment echoed beside her. She sat upright in her infirmary bed, rubbing her hair which was dirty and oily with sweat and evil's blood. She needed a hot shower. Badly. When she tried moving out of the bed, she made a noise of anguish and sank back down. She glanced at her arm. It was wrapped in bandages, blood already beginning to seep through the white cloth. She was also connected to an IV drip. Her brows creased together. She hated getting an IV needle stuck in her back in her world, but just the thought of having a needle from another world _inside her vein_ was even more unnerving. Still, she had to give Romanov credit. He did a much better job at patching her up than any doctor she'd been to in her world.  
She glanced down. She was wearing brown scrubs. She ran her teeth together, sincerely hoping it was Boomer that had changed her clothes while she was unconscious. Still, they were better than the torn up Pierce the Veil T-shirt and jeans that hung off a chair in a corner of the room. The holographic clock on the wall read 5 AM. She grumbled.  
Blue took a breath, then attempted to get out of bed again.  
The IV drip and Heart Monitor made a loud _BOOOOP_ beside her. A female electronic voice spoke. " _Identity Confirmed - Gabriella._ " Blue's mouth formed into a thin line. She hated hearing her name, especially from a machine. (This is true, you guys.) " _Initiating Pause Sequence. Do not move. Now removing IV Drip and Monitor._ "  
The equipment hooked up to her extracted on it's own. Blue stared at it in amazement. To make up for what she had lost in her home world, this world's technology was incredible. Blue slipped out of bed, momentarily disoriented from laying down for such a long time. The tile flooring felt cool beneath her bare feet. She limped to the shower room connected to the infirmary private room. The door to the bathroom was locked with a voice command. " _Please say a command. Ex. Lights. Food._ _Assistance. Unlock_."  
"Uhh... Lights off?"  
The lights flickered out.  
Blue smiled, laughing in the dark. "Fucking cool. _Lights on_!"  
The lights flickered on. Romanov was standing in front of her.  
Blue inhaled sharply. "Agh! Get back!" She shielded her face with her arms.  
Romanov stumbled back , as if pushed by an invisible wall.  
Blue lowered her arms, staring at what she'd just done. "I..."  
Romanov's mouth formed into a thin line beneath his white bristled mustache. "Your powers are surfacing. You need to train harder to control them."  
Blue sighed in sarcasm. "Thanks for the wakeup call, crackpot." Blue stopped. _Crackpot_. That's what the team called him. In the time she'd spent in this world, she was becoming more and more like them. For a moment, she reconsidered going back home. She liked it better here. But she knew it wasn't possible. She couldn't build a life here. Not the life she wanted.  
After Romanov checked her vitals, Blue retreated into the shower and let the hot beads of water beat against her back, washing away the ache in her bones. She emerged with a towel wrapped around her, and stared at herself in the mirror. She didn't even recognize who was staring back at her. Her eyes were dark from lack of sleep. Her hair was frizzy and wild, and she made a mental note to use Boomer's shampoo next time she showered. She wasn't tired. How could she sleep, knowing her characters were real, she was trapped inside another dimension, and the miserable lives of the people around her were all her fault? But she had to get some sleep if she was going to train harder tomorrow. She sighed and retreated back to the hospital bed, closing her eyes but remaining awake.


	17. Chapter 16

Nox turned on the hot water and stood motionless beneath the running water, the steam making her hair cling to her skin. She breathed deeply, clearing her mind of any troubles. Even though she knew she couldn't. Angel was still out there. Her memories were gone. Taken by the Superior. She shut her eyes, grounding her palms into her eyes until she saw purple. She blinked away the droplets lingering on her eyelashes.

A shadow swept beneath her bathroom door, but she didn't notice it. On the other end of the fogged up glass, she saw someone's silhouette, watching her.

Nox frowned. "Go away, Lloyd. Divorcees don't shower together."

The shadow didn't move.

Nox's brows creased together, and her voice sounded more alarmed than she intended. "Boomer?"

The shadow harshly drew open the shower door. The Superior stood on the other side.

Nox gasped and stumbled back, nearly slipping on the wet shower floor. Her bare back hit a wall. There was nowhere to run. From her angle, it looked like the Superior's body fit the entire doorway. He smiled, a sickening grin that made her stomach lurch.

"What are you doing?" She demanded, but her voice was trembling. She didn't want to show this monster she was afraid, but she couldn't even control her own fear. The Superior had her trapped. There was nothing to protect her, not even her own clothing or armor. _How did he get inside the base?_ She recalled the words that Etrius told them when the Superior first attacked them and kidnapped Angel. _He can slip past our defenses and find a way to get to you._ There was no stopping him.

"There's nowhere to run." The Superior's smile widened as he stepped inside the running shower, shutting the door with his foot. He pressed Nox between the wall beneath the shower head and his own body. Nox tried to scream, but the Superior slammed his lips against hers. It wasn't a smoldering, needy kiss. It was sloppy, dominating, and his tongue felt like a dying fish in her mouth. Her throat burned from the scream she never made. His hands were traveling up and down her body, leaving behind a trail of acid and toxin. She struggled, but he was stronger, holding her in place. The hot water was scalding her face. Water dripped down her cheeks, or tears, she didn't know. He seemed unfazed by her tears and pain.

The Superior grabbed her hair, yanking her head up to face him. "You're mine." It wasn't an inquiry, or a demand. It was a statement, as if he were telling her that Angel's memories were gone. He buried his face in between her breasts. Nox was no longer ashamed of her own nudity. She hated the Superior. She hated that he'd taken everything from her, and the fact that he was willing to take so much more.

"Get off!" She forced the words out between choking sobs, beating down on his back. She also hated the fact that he was fully clothed.

Reading her mind, the Superior smirked. "I can fix that." Suddenly, his pants were at his feet, a wild look in his eyes. He pressed himself against her, and tears bled from Nox's eyes. He whispered harshly into her ears, and Nox shivered. He sounded almost like Creticus. "You're mine, you hear me? _Mine_." He placed a hand on her bare stomach, where Angel once was. Where another hybrid could be. "And so is this."

Nox awoke with a choking scream of anguish. She flew upright, her eyes darting around the dark room. Her breathing was heavily, and she wanted to throw up. Boomer was the first person to bust his way inside Nox's room, his shotgun drawn and aimed at the shadows around her. "Show yourself!" He demanded into the darkness.

Nox tried composing herself, but she just fell apart again. She scrunched her hair with her fists. "It was... a dream."

Boomer remained tense for a moment before he sighed in relief and lay his shotgun by the door. He shut the door behind him and made his way to Nox's bed. Nox practically fell into his embrace. It was warm. Comforting. She felt in control. Boomer snuck his arms around her waist and rocked her gently to calm her, whispering reassuring words, telling her everything would be okay. Soon, Nox's sobs silenced, and her breathing was slow and deep.

"It was _him_ , wasn't it?" Boomer whispered, refusing to speak the Superior's name out of pure hatred.

Nox nodded, a bleeding sound escaping her throat. She couldn't even pretend to act strong anymore. There was no more hope. The Superior didn't just defeat the team. He destroyed them. Boomer stared down at Nox as she struggled to compose herself. He'd never seen her look so... broken. He held her closer, rocking her again. "Shh... It's okay. He's not here. You're safe. I'm here."

Nox's heart hung by a thread, an organ that would bleed and never stop. "He's coming for us..."

"It was just a dream," Boomer reminded her softly. "A nightmare. You're safe here."

After a while, Boomer comm'd in Romanov to check on Nox's vitals. Boomer left Nox's room to patrol the base and reassure her the Superior hadn't penetrated their defenses. Romanov hooked a heart monitor to Nox's chest just as Lloyd emerged into her room. "Are you alright?" He asked, the urgency ringing in his voice. He closed the distance between them, but Nox looked away. "I'm fine." She said coldly, even though Romanov told her she'd had a panic attack from weeks upon weeks of stress.

When Lloyd didn't move, Nox added, "Go away, Lloyd. I don't want to see your face." He hadn't been there for her. Neither in the dream when the Superior came for her. And neither when she woke up screaming.

Lloyd lifted her chin up to face him. "Nox, stop being stubborn."

Nox flinched. It was just like how the Superior yanked her head in the dream. He shoved Lloyd away. "Get back!" She shouted, fear in her voice.

Lloyd was genuinely confused. "What?"

"What? _What_?! Don't _what_ me!"

"Nox-"

"And don't _Nox_ me, either!"

Lloyd sighed. "Look. I'd still do anything for you, even though we're no longer together."

This infuriated Nox even further. "Get out!"

Romanov's gaze switched to the heart monitor, seeing her pulse rise with stress.

Lloyd clenched his hands into fists. "Fine!" He shouted back, and he stormed out of the room.

Nox was about to get up from bed and go after him, but Romanov held her back, shaking his head. "It's not worth it."

Nox ripped off the heart monitoring equipment. "No, Lloyd needs to understand that it's over!"

Romanov closed his eyes and sighed. "He does understand. He's just having a hard time accepting it."

Nox let Romanov's words sink in. "You know, don't you?" Romanov had known Lloyd longer than Nox. He'd seen the hardships he'd gone through without her. The pain he felt while she slept in frozen cryo liquid.

"He's strong, but he's stubborn as well," Romanov continued. "He's used to earning what he wants."

Nox opened her mouth to say something else, but the weeks upon weeks of not seeing Angel and Boomer being closer to her and Lloyd trying to earn her forgiveness all came crashing down on her. She stood up to get a drink of water-

And then crashed to her knees. She didn't know she was sobbing until she felt the tears catching against her wrists. Romanov knelt beside her, patting her shoulder. Then, he squeezed her into a hug. He wasn't used to doing it. Not even to Dan. But support was the treatment for panic attacks, and it was his job to support the team.

Romanov didn't have to kneel down far. His short height matched hers when she was kneeling. Nox sniffled, and said only two words. "Thank you."

It was 4 AM.

The rest of the team had gone to sleep, but Lloyd was still awake, blankly staring at the security feed. Not like there was much to look at anyways. Any spy cameras they left at the Superior's base were useless. The frequency was blocked by whatever technology he was using. Lloyd ran his hands through his hair, not even sure what to do anymore. Their plans failed. They lost Angel, The General, and almost lost Beecher. The Author nearly died. He ran his hands up his face and through his hair, which had become matted from days without showering. He'd grown a beard that Mullins would be jealous of.

"There's nothing left." He spoke in a hushed tone, over and over. "There's nothing left."

Blue jolted awake, sharp pain running through her arm. She stood upright in the infirmary bed, glancing at her bandaged arm, where the Evil bite wound was dressed. The open scars were fizzing like acid. She hissed and tore away the wrapped bandage. The wound was closing, muscles knitting together and the skin melting. It was healed. She gingerly touched the skin were a fatal wound had been only seconds ago. Then she closed her hand into a fist. Power coursed through her.

Not finding sleep again, Blue stood to her feet and walked the hallways of the base. She still wasn't used to how eerily similar this world was to the one she wrote about. The tile flooring, the steel walls, the titanium smell, the cool air conditioning... It was far more advanced than the Pandora park she'd been to.

When she entered the monitor room, Lloyd jolted, surprised to see her up at this time. "What are you doing?"

Blue shrugged. "I'm always up at this time. It's the best time to write." Upon saying these words, she wondered if the time zone was similar to the one back home. Approaching Lloyd, she shows her healed arm. When Lloyd didn't understand, Blue added, "The power I used to create this world is returning to me. They aren't lost."

Lloyd's mouth fell open. "We stand a chance against the Superior. You can change what he's done- change everything." After days of torturing himself, Lloyd had finally come to terms that Blue couldn't change what happened in this world.

Until now.

Blue nodded. "We can find the others. We can end this."

Before Blue could leave, Lloyd seized her arm, and beckoned her closer to whisper something. "It's best if the others don't know about this."

"What? Why?" Blue was genuinely confused. Hours ago, Lloyd wanted to bring an army to destroy the Superior. Now he wanted to go in alone?

"You heard what Beecher said to Etrius," Lloyd continued. "Nobody's going back there. It's over. If we told them this plan, they wouldn't agree to it. They'd only hinder us."

Blue actually thought about it. He wasn't wrong. And she knew the team better than Lloyd did. They _wouldn't_ agree to it. She sighed, defeated. "Alright."

Lloyd looked her in the eyes with something she'd never seen before. It almost looked like deliverance. "This is probably the first and last time you'll hear this from me. I'm sorry about what I did before. When you were writing our lives. You truly didn't know you were doing something wrong. But you're here now. And maybe there's a reason for that. You can set things right again."

Blue took in Lloyd's words as if they were lifeblood. He was right. He'd never say that again. "Alright. So what's the plan?"


	18. Chapter 17

The General cast one long, doubtful look over his shoulder before he picked the lock on the south laboratory doors. The Superior knew he couldn't keep The General contained in the isolation cells for long. He'd be out looking for him. If not his guards.

But he had to find Angel before any of that. Before he could worry about being captured again, or even worse - executed.

He was so close to finding her again. The rest of the team might've presumed him dead by now, but it didn't matter. He had to get Angel out of here. Her empty, emotionless face filled his eyes. He shut the memories out, burying them into the far corners of his mind. No. It wasn't over. There was still a chance. Romanov could undo this. Or maybe even get the Superior to undo it.

The lock gave a satisfying _click_.

But the door didn't swing open. It was kicked open.

His eyes shot open. The cold floor was at his back. And Angel stood over him, energy swirling around her fists. Her eyes were robbed of the usual acceptance he'd last seen her with. Now, they were torn, enraptured in anger. "What do you think you're doing?" Her voice was low, yet it felt like she was holding something back.

Normally, The General would back away, throw up defenses. But he showed no fear. He felt no fear. This was Angel.

 _Angel_.

The General slowly stood to his feet. He rested his hands on her shoulders. Angel jumped a little and flinched, but she didn't slip out of his grip. Mostly because she didn't want to. His hands, his icy blue eyes, his desperate expression... Everything was achingly familiar.

He spoke, and although his voice reached her ears, she couldn't pinpoint where she'd last heard it. "Angel... What do you remember?"

Angel's brows knitted together. "What... What are you talking about?"

The General felt hope slipping away. "The team... Nox, Lloyd, Etrius, Beecher... Your mom and dad. Do you remember who they are?" When she didn't answer, he added, "Do you remember who I am?" He prayed the Superior didn't leave any memories of the evil he'd committed in the past. Turned him into an enemy.

The energy field that usually surrounded Angel dimmed, but she didn't respond. After a while, The General shook her. "Angel!"

A tear spilled from, Angel's eye. The General ceased his movements. Sionis didn't create an emotionless war machine. He created a fragile doll.

Without warning, Angel's eyes darkened like a storm. She felt... intimidated by his presence. She shoved away from him. "No..." She shook her head, scrunching her hands through her hair, as if torn between making an internal decision.

The General stared in awe as he finally got a full view of her. The way she ran her hands through her hair, just like Lloyd. The rapid movement of her eyes as she mulled over thoughts in her mind. Just like Nox. Almost to himself, he said, "You're just like them..."

Angel threw her gaze in his direction. "What?"

"You look just like Nox and Lloyd. God... What did the Superior do to you..."

Angel's eyes darkened. She took this as an insult. She shoved him away with a blast of power, but more out of anger. She let out a scream of frustration. "Just stay away from me!"

The General flinched, feeling all hope slip away once more. "Angel-"

"You have no right to call me by that name." Yet she couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. That name. _Angel_. The same name written in the corner of her bathroom mirror. Could he have some connection? The key to the missing gap in her memories?

She slammed her eyes shut. _No, he's the enemy. You grew up learning to hate the enemy. He's just a pawn beneath your heel. Walk away from him_.

She turned around and sauntered down the corridor, letting her feet guide her.

"Angel!" The General called after her.

Angel kept moving.

" _Angel_!" The General shouted even louder. He wanted to jump up and go after her. But he knew there was no point. Angel was gone.

A sudden rumble shook the base.

The General's darted around the room as the vibrations receded back into the ground. He climbed to his feet, eyes narrowing as his suspicions became true. "I knew it." Relying on memory, he charged through the cold hallways towards the monitor room. The door was - surprisingly - unlocked. His hands subconsciously went to his belt, where he usually carried his caliber. But his fingers grasped air. He cursed silently. They'd taken his weapons before he regained consciousness.

He creaked the door open. The room was empty. But the monitors were locked with a secure password. The General's fingers flew across the keyboard, trying every possible combination. "Fallen Star... Element Evil... Castle Project... Whiskey..." Nothing worked. Then, it hit him. He recalled Blue saying something multiple times. Something from her dimension.

Diverting his attention back to the keyboard, he typed down one word.

 _Deletionquality._

"Password Accepted." A female voice said cheerfully. _Got it._

The monitors displayed security camera feed of the base. At the very top, he noticed two figures, slightly obstructed by the forest around the base. In another room, the Superior was standing with his arms crossed. Waiting. His eyes widened, then narrowed. He ran his teeth together. "Lloyd, you stupid son of a bitch..."

Blue turned her face up to meet Lloyd's empty gaze. "Lloyd?"

Lloyd looked as if she'd been shaken from sleep. He glanced at Blue with something she couldn't name. "Sorry. Let's keep going."

Lloyd moved to the other side of the vicinity, but stayed within Blue's line of sight so she could stay confident. Lloyd breathed slowly, upholstering his pistol. He aimed at the guards patrolling the front of the base. He pulled the trigger.

The bullets whizzed past them, barely grazing their armor. They glanced at their surroundings, alarmed, before moving inside the base. Lloyd lowered his gun.

Blue couldn't help but feel relieved. At least they wouldn't have to worry about guards anymore. But what was with Lloyd's aim.

 _Is there some kind of magnetic field that reflects Bullets? Kind of like in that Batman movie_. She shook her head. She knew the idea was ridiculous-but with the Superior, it was expected.

In her peripheral, Lloyd gestured for her to move in. She made her way closer to Lloyd, and together, they moved quickly inside the base, weapons drawn. Lloyd taught her how to fire a gun. The pistol felt heavy in her hands. But she was afraid to use it, even on characters. Afraid to take a life, even though she'd already unknowingly taken so many.

Once they were inside the base, the doors automatically shut behind them, locking with a red light. No escape.

Suddenly, they were everywhere.

The Superior's men leaped over catwalks, burst from cover and flooded in through open doors. They had them surrounded, forming a tight circle. Blue remembered writing about situations like this. But she wasn't prepared for how terrified, how claustrophobic she would feel. The plethora of soldiers looked like impenetrable walls, closing in. Her breathing grew heavy, her vision hazy. The pistol suddenly felt very real in her hands. Everything was happening too fast.

The crowd of soldiers parted way to let the Superior himself through, but kept their weapons trained on Blue and Lloyd.

Blue ground her teeth. This was her chance. She could end the Superior, and set everything right again.

She aimed at the Superior's head. Held her breath. And squeezed the trigger.

 _Click_.

Blue stared at the gun. "A blank?" She mumbled.

The Superior smiled. "Congratulations, swordsman. You remember how to follow orders."

Blue stared at Lloyd, hope leaving her face. "Lloyd?"

Lloyd wouldn't look at her. Blue felt something collide with the back of her skull. The floor rushed up to meet her, but more hands caught her and kept her in shackles. She recognized them. Obsidian. So she wouldn't use her powers. She never felt so... defenseless.

Blue shouted as she struggled against the iron hands holding her back. "Are you FUCKING shitting me?! This is the second time you've done this, Lloyd! WHEN WILL YOU LEARN?!"

Lloyd slammed his eyes shut. Blue was right. All his life, he tried making deals with the enemy, to make things better for him. For people close to him. And they always backfired. The realization hit him harder than he'd expected. He would _never_ learn.

The Superior snapped his fingers, and a familiar face stepped through the crowd. Lloyd first thought it was Nox, but she was younger. In her late teens. His face fell in apprehension as he realized. "Angel."

Blue was dragged into another room, in the other direction, kicking and screaming. The door shut. Angel approached Lloyd, but her eyes were empty.

Lloyd grabbed her arms. "Angel!?"

Angel looked confused for a second, but she didn't say anything. Lloyd's eyes darkened, every shred of anger aimed at the Superior. He stomped across the room. The men's weapons were still trained on him as he moved, but he didn't give a shit. He pulled his elbow back, and threw a punch into the Superior's face. " _You son of a bitch! What the fuck did you do to her!?_ "

The Superior couldn't hold back his smile. "Turned her into what she was meant to be."

"You took her life, you fuck!"

"I didn't take her life," The Superior corrected him as he rose to his feet again. He felt suddenly taller than Lloyd. "The Author did. Her decisions-"

"Don't you fucking put this on her, you motherfucking coward."

The Superior grimaced. "You have your bastard child back. Now get out of my facility."

The door light blinked green, and it swung open again. Lloyd's eyes narrowed. "And The General."

The Superior creased his brows together, as if he truly didn't know what Lloyd was talking about. "Who?"

"You fucking know who I'm talking about." Lloyd held Angel close to him, as if afraid the Superior would yank her back with an invisible string.

The Superior's eyes widened. "Ahh, Creticus."

Lloyd's eyes narrowed. _That's his name?_ He knew The General and the Superior shared a past, but knowing each other's names... This was something else.

"I'm sorry, but I still have a bone to pick with him." He spoke this as if it were a minor inconvenience. "Now leave."

Lloyd ground his teeth. "That wasn't the deal!"

The Superior held out his hand, power coursing through it. Lloyd realized. The Wise One's books. The incantations. He didn't need Element Evil to demonstrate his power. Angel's neck grew red like fire, and Lloyd felt a choking sensation. But he wasn't worried about himself.

"Do you want her to die?" The Superior's voice told him to think long and hard about his next decision.

Lloyd had just found her and she was already slipping away from him. He threw his arms around her. " _No_!"

"Then _leave_." The Superior added more forcefully, thrusting a finger towards the door. Lloyd ground his teeth. He knew this was all the mercy he would get from the Superior. Clutching Angel against him, Lloyd carried her out the door. The General would have to wait.


	19. Chapter 18

Blue struggled violently as she felt the guards drag her inside the base. Obsidian handcuffs shackled her wrists behind her back, and a blindfold was wrapped tightly around her eyes. She screamed against the rag these bastards dared to tie around her face. She lashed out, and heard a satisfying grunt as she managed to kick one of them in the groin. Air filled her lungs as she was thrown into the air without warning. The hard crack of a stone floor hit her shoulder, and splitting pain lit up her hip. She ground her teeth. This was _her_ world. _She_ was supposed to be in control. She would erase them from existence. All of them.

Leaping to her feet, she spun around, trying to listen for more sounds. Try to figure out at least where the door is. What room she was in. It didn't take long for her to realize the room was closed off. And she wasn't alone.

Rough hands grabbed her shoulders, dragging her down to her knees in a sloppy bow. The blindfold was ripped away, and blurry white lights filled her eyes. When the haze faded, she scowled at the Superior standing in front of her. His eyes were set alight in victory. And fear. He was standing in front of the very being who could rip away his existence with a mere word. All that was between Blue and making him suffer were a pair of obsidian handcuffs. She hated the feeling of not being able to move her hands, or even use her power.

"Here's the deal," He tried to sound superior, but tremor in his voice gave him away. He was afraid of her. "Cooperate, or I will kill you."

Blue growled through the rag, the rage in her eyes telling unspoken promises of punishment. The Superior knelt down to her level, untying the rag. Blue spat in his face. "Why don't you go fuck yourself?"

"This is not negotiable," The Superior stared at her like a wold staring down prey. He wiped away her spit. "I already have the Tree."

Blue's blood froze inside her. _The Tree... He can control everything. This will become_ his _story. His world. No, he's got to be lying..._

Blue ground her teeth, trying not to let her shock reveal itself. "Is that supposed to make me afraid of you?"

The Superior chuckled, dragging her to her feet by the collar of her shirt. He sneered into her face. " _Yes_." He set her down gently. Almost mercifully. Or fearfully. "You know what this means. I hold complete power. Almost complete. Now that I have you, two halves of the power will be complete. I will own both this world-" He smirked. "-And yours."

 _I hate my world anyways_. But she didn't say the words out loud.

The Superior flicked his hand in the air, and Blue felt an unrelenting force gripping her throat, crawling through the crevices of her mind, pulling apart secrets. The Superior stared into her eyes. "Tell me about your power."

 _He's looking for the truth._ Blue couldn't hold back. She couldn't resist. She squeezed her eyes shut. "I can't control it. Not all of it."

The Superior's eyes widened as he released her of his hold. "You can't control..." His voice trailed off. Then, his smile widened. "Excellent. Then I don't need you. I just need your power."

Blue collapsed to the floor and coughed. "Over my dead _body_."

"That's the idea."

"You can't kill me. The power will just evaporate into the universe and be passed onto someone else. And _you_ are the least worthy."

"Oh, I won't kill you." The Superior said nonchalant. Blue was wary of his changing attitude and wants. He was becoming even more out of control. "But I will kill your team."

Blue scoffed and rolled her eyes. If he only knew how many threats the team had to face. How many times they died and re-birthed. She could bring them back... Couldn't she?

"I already sent that bastard child with the rest of your team. She could kill them in one shot with Element Evil. Don't be fooled by appearances. I still have control over her. The child has grown so powerful, even you can't bring them back from the dead. Your team is done for." The Superior's words cut a hole through Blue's soul like a hot knife. He gazed at her with such sincerity that she felt sick. "If you don't do this, I will kill everyone you love, starting with Etrius."

Blue felt the unrelenting pressure, telling her to give in. That it was hopeless. That there was no way she'd get out of this alive. She shook her head, her breathing growing heavier.

"Blue, I will kill them all unless you cut this shit out and hand over the power." The Superior pressed.

She squeezed her eyes shut and refused to look at him. "I can't."

Ice cold hands wrapped around her throat. "You can, and you will."

Blue couldn't give in. She couldn't. But if she defied the Superior, the team would die. For good.

If she gave him the power, the team would live. But she would never go back home, and the Superior would have complete access to the Waking Realm. Her realm. Her home.

Blue's shoulders shook with rage and helplessness. "I fucking can't."

Nox expected to go outside and see Lloyd and Blue return badly wounded.

She expected to see The General bringing back their lifeless bodies.

She expected The Superior to creep out of hiding and drag her away.

But what she saw made her freeze. It was Lloyd. And... someone else. A teenage girl, no older than Blue. She was walking stiffly, her posture straight and narrow. Almost robotic. Her eyes were staring ahead. Her eyes... changing color.

Nox's breath caught in her throat. "Oh my god... Angel?" Her walk quickly stretched into a run, and she practically collapsed on the girl. "Angel?!"

The sudden shouts brought the attention of the rest of the team. Etrius and Beecher poked their heads out of the upstairs windows, surveying the scene downstairs. Beecher disappeared back inside to descent the staircase. Etrius didn't wait that long. He leaped straight out of the window and slid down the roof, clawing his way to the ground. "What the hell happened back there?! You and Blue disappeared without telling-" He stopped talking altogether when he saw Nox on her knees, embracing someone. He saw her sapphire eyes - and recognized her instantly. "Angel?!" She looked so familiar, and yet so different. He ran his hands through his hair, collapsing to his knees as well. "God... What did that bastard do to you..."

Angel didn't respond. She looked almost... confused.

Etrius looked at her, the whites of his eyes now red with burst blood vessels. "I'm so sorry. I couldn't keep you safe. I couldn't stop them." His mind traveled back to the night when he last saw her. When the Superior promised him the people in his life would be reduced to ruin.

Beecher finally caught up with them and understood the situation. He placed a hand on Etrius's shoulder. "Etrius, at least we have her back. She's alive."

Etrius whirled around to face him. "She is _not_ alive! HE TOOK HER LIFE!"

Angel continued to watch the scene in silence. She didn't know how to react, even though the Superior told her exactly how. To pretend that she was on their side. That the rebels owned her. This sounded nothing like ownership. They looked genuinely concerned. She found herself comparing it to the Superior's cold features. She shut her eyes and shook her head. _Focus._

Beecher glanced around. "Where's Blue? And The General?"

Lloyd remained silent, staring at the ground. He had mixed emotions about this. Angel was returned to them, but Blue... What made things worse was that the Superior would use Blue's power and do anything his heart desired. It was too much power, especially for him. He could only trust that the Author would never give the Superior any power.

Etrius noticed Lloyd's silence first. He stood to his feet, approaching Lloyd. "Lloyd? Where are they?"

Lloyd clenched his hands into fists. "I couldn't get The General without losing Angel again. It was too much of a tall order."

"And Blue?" Etrius inquired.

Lloyd refused to make eye contact. "I..."

Lloyd didn't have to answer for Etrius to understand. He stood staring at Lloyd for a long minute, then looked at Angel, and back at Lloyd. He pulled his elbow back. And, for the first time while not under The General's influence, Etrius punched Lloyd in the face.

It took Nox a moment to realize what was happening. She stared at Lloyd with scorn burning in her red eyes. "Remind me why I chose you again?"

"Nox-" Lloyd started, his voice raw, but there was nothing to say. He clenched his hand into a fist and shut his eyes. "There's no use fighting now. We have to go back for her."

"Go back for her?" Etrius let out a bark of laughter. "Everytime we go to that damn base, someone gets left behind. We're lucky the Superior hasn't erased us all by now! Blue's probably hanging by a thread, and it's because of you!"

Lloyd didn't argue. He didn't need to. Because he knew Etrius was right.

Beecher ran his hands up his face. "We need a different approach." He looked at his broken team. "We need the Superior to come to us."

"You don't have to go back for him." Boomer spoke softly.

"Pfft. I'm not. Because Lloyd doesn't deserve it."

"Nox?" Lloyd's silhouette appeared beyond Nox's dorm room door. His shoulders were hunched over, almost in exhaustion and regret. He was drenched in regret. He looked like he wanted to apologize, but it would just humor them. There was nothing he could say that would mend this.

Nox whipped her head around to face him, her eyes green in disgust. She sneered in his face. "This is all. Your. Fault."

Lloyd ground his teeth. "I know that! I had no other choice!"

Nox didn't fully understand the situation when he and Blue were at the base. But she knew he could have at least told the team where they were going. The most powerful being in the universe next to Angel. The only one with the ability to control their fates. Gone. The thoughts only angered her further. She pushed against his chest. "Maybe you _did_ deserve those twenty years of suffering. Because you never fucking learn."

It took Lloyd a moment for him to register Nox's words. His voice grew faded and weary. "What?" He whispered.

Wounded, Lloyd watched as Nox returned to Boomer. Boomer smiled and held her close. Almost as if to spite him, he crushed his mouth against hers. He swore he could see his icy blue eyes watching his as he took his only solace away.

Lloyd felt something shatter inside him. He couldn't stay here. Turning on his heels, he retreated down the hall. He didn't even know where he was running. He just knew he had to get away.


	20. Chapter 19

Any other day, Blue would've taken in the details of the world she'd created around her. The way the ice coldness of the flooring permeated through her sneakers, or the way the walls felt like they were closing in on her, or the way the Superior's men dragged her hard by her arms, leaving red marks. The Superior was walking in front of her. Leading the way through the hallways. She hated every single inch of this man. "Faggot military bitch." She hissed under her breath, remembering what a friend told her back in her world.

The Superior threw back a coy smile at her. Blue scowled.

In what seemed like hours, Blue was finally led into another room, much colder than the hallways. She shivered, the thick rebel uniform she'd taken from base not nearly enough to block out the dropping temperatures. She swore she could see ice on the walls. _Why is it so cold..._

Then, she realized why. The tree. It was here. The very portal that brought her into this world, and granted her Author powers. And it was in the hands of the main antagonist in her story. This was not going well.

Blue was unchained, but she still couldn't use her powers. She realized why. The walls were lined with obsidian. It was why she could no longer sense the portal's pull when she was with the Elite Rebels.

The guards shut the doors, leaving her alone with the Superior. She didn't like the way his presence filled the room like smoke, filling her with terror.

Now, with obsidian all around them, and the Superior in complete control, he closed the distance between them, his eyes set alight, almost in a possessive kind of way. Blue tried to run, but the Superior kept her still with an invisible channel between them.

 _He still has Element Evil. He's growing stronger._

"I won't ask you again, Blue." The Superior's voice sharpened with intensity. "Give me the power, or your _characters_ die." He spat the word _characters_ , as if it were an insult.

The door swung open behind them. Blue recognized the new character instantly. She regretted ever including him in her story.

Arthur marched into the room, dragging a body with him. Blue recalled everything Arthur had done to her characters from previous stories, and her heart immediately beat faster.

Arthur moved in front of Blue, dragging the man up to his knees. His beret was missing, and his clothes were shredded, but she recognized him instantly. Creticus. The Superior glared down at him with disappointment. "You could've been of so much use to me. All those years of training - wasted."

The General's breathing grew heavy. "You were _brainwashing_ me, you son of a bitch. Do you have any idea how many lives you made me destroy-"

Arthur landed a harsh blow in his face. The collision of flesh against bone skull made Blue jolt.

Arthur screamed in his face. "YOU DON'T GET TO TALK ABOUT RUINING LIVES! NOT AROUND ME!" Arthur's claws extended from his finger tips. He held them to The General's neck, his eyes watching Blue's every move. It unsettled her. "If you don't hand over the power, I will kill him too. Right in front of you. Better make your decision quick. It's taking all my willpower to not slit his throat now."

Blue was paralyzed. She didn't want to lose everything. The General noticed the stress building up inside her. "You can't just put all that pressure on-"

Arthur yanked The General's head back and began slowly drawing his claws across his throat, leaving a trail of fresh blood that dripped down his flesh. He shut his eyes and opened his mouth, but the sound of pain ended somewhere in his throat.

Blue inhaled sharply. "No!" She tried leaping for him, but the Superior held her back with unrivaled strength. "No, stop! STOP!"

Arthur slowed the cutting wound to a stop, but he didn't move the knife away. Blood dripped down the blade. "Well?" He said with a sick smile.

Misty witnessed the events play out from a corner in the room. Her keen ears picked up voices, and her eyes saw through the darkness of the corner. She couldn't believe this. She'd had her suspicions about the Superior, but this proved everything she doubted. She had to get to Angel before it was too late. Tell her the truth. Tell her the truth about _him_. She vanished silently out of the room where she first came in. She just had to follow Angel's scent. She just hoped she didn't find her too late.

The Superior produced a remote from his coat pocket, pressing a button. Monitors descended from a hole in the ceiling, surrounding them. They blinked to life, showing security feed of the base. _The team's base_.

Dr. Romanov moved around the infirmary room, checking Angel's vital signs. He'd kept her under anesthetics so he could keep an eye on her vitals, brainwaves and sleep pattern. And - if the worst came to be - surgery. The Superior could've done something to her during the months she'd been missing. He _had_ to have done something, if Angel aged ten years in a matter of months. It hadn't been _that_ long...

Romanov was halfway through changing her IV drip when he stopped and sighed, dipping his head. He put a hand on Angel's shoulder and spoke to her, even though he knew she couldn't hear him. "I will find a way to fix this. You will have your life back."

Angel's eyes shot open.

Romanov gasped as he hand flew to his neck, pinching his airway shut. Her eyes turned to a dark, bloody red. He snarled with hatred. " _Finally_. I hate these rebels. And I hate your accent. I should shut you up right now."

Romanov didn't have time to figure out how she could be awake when she was under anesthetics. But he knew this much. Angel truly didn't remember them at all. The Superior had won. Angel was his pawn now.

Romanov put a hand on her arm. Angel could swear the man was familiar, though. His rough, aged voice, and long, bony fingers through purple gloves.

"Angel," He rasped. "You don't belong to the Superior. You belong with us."

Angel let out a bark of cold, dark laughter. "That's what he told me you'd say."

" _No_!" Romanov insisted. "Now you listen to me. You belong with us. You just don't remember it. I remember the days you spent training with the team, your stubbornness to fight, and the fire that burned inside for you to learn. I remember the day you were first _introduced_ to the team. You looked so small and fragile. But you held unimaginable power. A Human and an Ancient Hybrid."

"Why should I listen to anything you say?" Angel growled. "You work with the enemy."

"You were raised to choose peace over war. Not in violence. Not with threats. Not in a _lab_." Angel was caught off guard by his sudden fierceness. The crows feet and laugh lines around his eyes and mouth didn't portray him as someone who would yell much.

 _He's begging for his life_ , A small voice spoke in the back of Angel's mind. _Just get rid of him. Now._

With a harsh cry, Angel threw the doctor halfway across the infirmary, his body crashing to the floor. Syringes and lab equipment toppled from the shelves, raining down on top of him. Angel didn't know what caused her to spare his life. But she didn't have time to wonder. She shut her eyes and focused, sending an emergency telepathic signal to the rest of the team. All would go as planned.

The team emerged from the base, some of them still half asleep. Etrius and Nox were alert, though. The sun hadn't risen yet, and the forest was shrouded in darkness. Crickets chirped among the trees. Etrius glanced around. "Angel?"

His eyes followed Angel's form as she sauntered in front of the team, her expression motionless. She counted to make sure everyone was outside.

Etrius found Angel's silence... unsettling. "Angel?" He asked again.

Angel stared at him. "Don't call me that, rebel." She thrust her hand out, an invisible force dragging the team to their knees. Angel walked towards the entrance of the base and ran her hand over the top corner. Etrius noticed something that wasn't there before. A hidden camera.

Blue watched the events unfold in front of her. She couldn't believe it. The Superior still had his claws on her. He only sent Angel with Lloyd to get close to the team. A ticking bomb.

Blue shut her eyes, then said the words she never thought she would say. "Fine."

The Superior held his hand out, a coy smile playing on his lips. "Well? Do we have a deal?"

"Blue, don't you fucking dare!" Creticus's words sounded hollow beside her. Blue numbly extended her hand. The Superior grabbed it, and Blue let go of the power.

It wasn't a subtle feeling. Her power wasn't drifting away, it was being _forced_ away. She was being drained of all energy, the power pouring through her arm, and into another vessel.

She felt as though her arm would be torn from her shoulder. She gasped and collapsed to her knees, trying to pull away, but the Superior's grip only tightened. He was greedy, taking every last drop he could find. Light escaped Blue's eyes, blinding her vision.

Then, everything went dark.

Voices screamed around her. Her eyes were heavy curtains. She pried them open - only for a instant. Dread hit her.

The tree.

It was dead.


	21. Chapter 20

p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1""Why did you do that?"/span/p  
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"Blue pried her eyes open. Creticus stood on the opposite end of the glass chamber that surrounded them. His arms were splayed against the glass, his head bowed, almost in defeat. When he didn't turn to face her, Blue assumed he must've thought she was still class="m_1210359646771178380Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"The General continued speaking, his voice adopting a hardened undertone. "It didn't have to end this way. You didn't have to give him the power." He curled his hand into a fist, thrusting it against the bulletproof glass. His voice remained even, shocking Blue. As if he were unraveling from within, the Author's control and harmony over his world completely gone./span/p  
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1""Hell, he's going to find a way to kill us all. Some loophole. You made a deal with the Superior - that doesn't mean he'll keep his word." He sighed. "Everything's so fucked up because of him." He paused. "Everything I did is because of him."/span/p  
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"Blue turned her head to face the monitors hanging from the ceiling, still displaying feed. The small movement drained her. The team was still there. Lloyd was screaming something inaudible at Angel. Nox was paralyzed./span/p  
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1" class="m_1210359646771178380Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"Blue squeezed her eyes shut. The Superior didn't do this. The General didn't do class="m_1210359646771178380Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"Blue did./span/p  
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"And she just made it so much class="m_1210359646771178380Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p  
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1""The team," She rasped, not realizing how deprived of water she really was. Her throat felt scratchy, and her body felt like a mangled wrung towel. Heat clawed at her throat, burning beneath her /span/p  
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"She heard heavy footsteps approaching, and soon Creticus was trying to pull her to her feet, but she sank back down. "I can't..." Creticus remained still for a moment, then propped her up against the glass wall so blood wasn't rushing to her head. Blue shut her eyes. "I'm sorry. I put everyone through enough pain. I couldn't live with myself if I knew I caused your deaths on purpose."br /br /Creticus stared at her. "We're fucking characters."br /br /"No, you're not." Blue opened her eyes, then blinked away the redness in her vision. "You've already proved that. Everyone has."/span /p  
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1""We have to go," Creticus's eyes scanned every inch of the glass chamber, skimming over the surface as if he'd checked every area a thousand times. "He's planted explosives around the base. We're surviving on borrowed time. Don't know how long until they go off."/span/p  
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"Blue coughed, a dull ache in her lungs. "The team-"/span/p  
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1""- The team can take care of themselves. We need to start thinking about how we're getting out of here."/span/p  
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"Blue chuckled and then grimaced, shutting her eyes. Even the smallest movement caused pain to light up her bones. "It doesn't matter. There's no way out. I really don't care about what happens to me anymore. As long as this world is kept protected and the team is alive."/span/p  
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1""He's going into /spanemyour/emspan class="m_1210359646771178380s1"em /emworld!" The General growled. "He's going to destroy and then rewrite everything. Just because he can't kill the team doesn't mean he can change this world. Get /spanemup/emspan class="m_1210359646771178380s2", Blue/spanspan class="m_1210359646771178380s1"."/span/p  
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1""Teh. Not like I can do anything about it at this point."/span/p  
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"The General ground his teeth, although deep inside, he knew it was pointless. Blue was right. There was no way out of this mess. Not when the Superior had already class="m_1210359646771178380Apple-converted-space"br /br /"This world..." Blue glanced around her, seeing pieces of the walls and floors materializing into thin air. "It's unraveling. Becoming undone. Either the Superior is doing this on purpose, or he's not strong enough to mentally hold every particle together." Blue's eyes traveled back to the monitors again. Angel had still not relinquished her psychic grip on the team. Lloyd was practically screaming his lungs out at this point. Blue could almost comprehend what he was saying. He was demanding to know what was going on. She could guess they probably already knew that their world was disappearing. She could see it in the feed. The forest around them was shriveling like a dying tree after a forest fire. Dread settled inside her, her heart hanging by a thread. The team would disappear anyways, drown with the /br /A low rumble shook the base, and Blue's eyes widened in panic. That was emnot/em the sound of her world's unbecoming. Dust and ceiling pieces descended like rain, and the bulletproof glass prison rattled as if shook with thunder. Blue couldn't move. The glass become more of a protection than a prison. She wondered if it would be able to withstand an entire building collapse on top of them. And even in the aftermath, how would they escape?br /br /Another rumble made the ground vibrate, and the sound of blasts shook the area. The monitors went dark, the lights blinking /br /Blue couldn't believe it. The Superior was willing to sacrifice his base to ensure the Author's death. Then she remembered. Not like he would need it anymore. emHe's OP at this /br /Debris collapsed on top of the chamber, jarring it violently. A scream rattled the darkened room. Blue realized it was /br /A shadow swooped over her. The General was using his body as a shield to keep debris from reaching her. But she knew it was futile against the weight of an entire facility. Cracks began to run along the length of the glass in a lattice design. Blue held her breath, preparing for the end of her /br /Movement stirred in her peripheral vision. Glancing to the right, she noticed two people rush into the room, but it was too dark to see their faces. One of them held something that shimmered with a cold blue fire in their hands. They tapped against a section of the glass, and honeycombed yellow lines radiated outwards, revealing a hidden sliding door. One of them screamed something before they slid on their knees on both sides of Blue and Creticus. One of them raised the blue fire in his hand over their heads. A blue dome of light spread over them, and the world fell apart./span/span/p 


	22. Chapter 21

Etrius's blood grew cold as he watched a black chopper descend from above, and settle in front of the Rebel's base. The Superior himself emerged from the cockpit. Etrius's jaw clenched as the memories returned to him, but he held himself together, reminding himself that he needed to protect his team.

The Superior sauntered across the forest clearing, his black eyes on Etrius. His irises were black orbs, and yet there was a ring of white fire around them. Etrius assumed the worst.

Before he could speak, Lloyd demanded, " _Where the fuck is she_!?"

The Superior met his glare with a smirk, enraging Lloyd even more.

"You son of a bitch," Etrius growled, his eyes stirring with something dark. "What the fuck did you do!?" The Superior knelt down to his level. Etrius could smell his breath, and it reeked of cigarettes. "I thought I got rid of you last time we met. Doesn't matter anymore. Blue is mortal- or, she _was_ mortal. I killed her, along with that sorry excuse I had for a son." He grinned at him. "You're alone now."

Shadows fell over Etrius's eyes as he lowered his head. "You're going to kill us."

The Superior grimaced. Wordlessly, he held out his hand, an invisible latch grabbing hold of Etrius's throat, pinching his airway shut. He slammed his eyes shut, trying to draw breath even though he knew it was useless.

" _NO_!" Beecher shouted, breaking free of Angel's restrains and diving for the Superior. The Superior thrust out his free hand, seizing Beecher's throat with an invisible force. He collapsed to his knees, then to his side, trembling in the grass as white began permeating his vision from air deprivation. Boomer looked like he wanted to either help his teammates, or rip the Superior to shreds. Nox gave him a subtle shake of her head, not wanting to lose anyone else. Even though she knew the Superior would kill them all anyways.

Etrius unleashed a scream, memories invading his mind. He recalled the first time he saw the Superior young again. When he took Angel and left him for dead. When he truly thought he _would_ die. When he sent a silent request for Lloyd to lead the team when he was gone.

Now, he took it all back.

The Superior realized something was wrong. He relinquished his grip on the two rebels, glancing down at his hands in rage. With a defeated roar, he slammed a fist into the ground, forming a crater in the soft earth. Bits and pieces of soil began to rise into the air, materializing and evaporating like water. Lloyd realized what this meant. The Author was gone. There was nobody to hold this world together.

The Superior slowly climbed to his feet. "No. I can't kill you. That damn creator thought she could protect you all by giving up her power."

Beecher grabbed Etrius's arms, dragging him as far away from the Superior as possible.

"I can't kill you. "The Superior's eyes faded to deep red, almost like blood. "But I _can_ make you suffer."

In Etrius's peripheral vision, he noticed someone else emerge from the chopper. Someone with a cold gaze, sharp blue eyes, and bony horns that protruded from his head in curves.

The Superior stepped out of the way to let him through, a sadistic smile playing on his lips. "Do as you like, Arthur."

Arthur assessed Etrius from head to toe without blinking. He was far from pleased. "I told you I wanted his head on a silver platter."

"Well, that didn't work out quite like I expected. So I'll have you do the honors."

The fact that Blue could open her eyes and glance around meant she _wasn't_ dead. Or at least, not yet.

She blinked in the darkness. She felt the cold ground at her back, the dust forming crust in her eyes, and the glass shards digging into her flesh. But she couldn't see.

Taking a risk, Blue tried pushing herself off the ground.

"Don't move." The General's voice. He was close, but Blue couldn't see him. His calm voice set off alarms in her head. _Maybe we really are dead_.

"What... happened..." Blue managed to form the words, her throat dry and scratchy like gravel.

"I don't know," The General responded in a hushed tone. Blue heard the rustle of torn fabric as he rose to his knees, raising his hands above him. They brushed against titanium wall pieces and debris. "Shit..."

Blue wondered how many times he'd been stuck in a situation like this. How many times he'd gotten himself out. If he could get them out _this time_.

The debris shifted around them, creaking and falling apart. Blue gasped, and Creticus moved in front of her once again, as if he could stop everything from reaching them.

Instead, sunlight began to pour through crevices and holes in the debris, fresh air rushing in.

As the rubble fell away, Blue noticed something different. A translucent blue light forming a small dome around them.

A voice shouted. "They're alive!"

Blue took in her surroundings. What had once been a vast, fortified, well-built base was now endless miles of rubble. Nobody could have lived through that kind of explosion. But two survivors stood among the aftermath.

Someone grabbed her arm, pulling her back on her feet. "Thanks," She mumbled, then realized it wasn't Creticus beside her.

Another girl, somewhere around her own age, stared at her. Red highlighted hair fell into curls around her waist, and sunset eyes watched Blue closely. The most distinct feature was her ears. Wolf ears. They twitched every once in a while, and the girl cocked her head to the side when she noticed Blue staring. "You don't know who I am. Do you?"

It took Blue a moment to find the words. "Y-Yeah... Yeah, I do. Misty."

Misty smiled. "The fact that you're alive means we can still save this world. It means we still save all worlds."

Blue was at a loss. Yet another character was standing clear a day in front of her. She couldn't wait to tell her friend back in her world. _If_ she made it back to her world. "I don't understand. What are you...?"

"Are they alright?" Another voice. Blue swore she'd heard it before, and yet it still sounded foreign. Like from a dream, or distant memory. Blue and Creticus took in the conversant boy with jeans, a lab coat, and horns protruding from his hair.

" _Dan_?!" Blue knew his name instantly. It wasn't hard to distinguish him from a crowd.

Dan was silent for a heartbeat, and then he smiled. "Say hi to Leo for me, will you?"

Blue rolled her eyes, still feeling the ache in her bones. "That's if we make it through this alive. I still don't understand what's happening. We're supposed to be dead-"

Misty held up a blue shard with triumph in her eyes. Her tail swished. The shard shimmered with vibrant blue, almost white light. When Blue looked close enough, she swore she could see ocean waves crashing around within the crystal. She felt drawn to it. "What... is that?"

Misty held the shard by a chain, careful not to touch it as she held it out to Blue. "Our way out. The Superior never keeps his power in one place. We..." She shrugged, deciding not to sugarcoat it. "Stole some of it."

Blue's heart beat faster as she took the chain. She couldn't believe it. "My god... Thank you. I thought-" She shook her head, letting go of the thought. "Let's find the team. Find Angel. Fix this mess."


	23. Chapter 22

Angel circled the team, keeping her psychic hold on them so they wouldn't move while Arthur unleashed hell. Beecher was unconscious from the lack of oxygen after Arthur strangled him in his blinding rage. Boomer lay against Nox, his bones shattered, his face scrunched in agony. Nox leaned over him, running her fingers through the tufts of his hair. The movement was soft, but inside, her heart burned with rage. She wanted to kill the Superior. She wanted to kill Arthur. She wanted to shake Angel, to scream at her and tell her to wake up, and that this was all wrong. Etrius was on the brink of death, everything broken and bleeding out. Lloyd was untouched, left to watch and endure the mental torment.

Nox felt rough hands grab the nape of her neck, dragging her to her feet. Arthur sniffed her hair. "I've never seen this one before."

With an angered scream, Nox lashed out at him, but the Superior held her in place. "One of your father's experiments."

Arthur's eyes widened. "There are more experiments?!" His eyes darkened. "So, that sorry bastard has more skeletons hiding in his closet. Why didn't you save her, like the rest of us?"

Nox hated the way Arthur spoke. As if she were a victim of The General. But the truth was, she _was_ a victim. A victim of the past. She chose to side with the Elite Rebels, and she would've rebelled against the Superior if he'd found her first.

Arthur's hands snaked around her waist, pulling her close. He whispered in her ear. "You're with me now. You don't have to stay here."

The Superior grabbed her and yanked him against him. "Don't get carried away, Arthur. I already told you she belonged to me."

"You don't need her!"

"No. I want her."

Lloyd couldn't stand by and watch. He unsheathed his sword, aiming the tip at the Superior, his earlier warnings completely forgotten. "Don't you fucking touch her!"

"Oh, fuck this." Nox stamped her foot on the Superior's boot, the unexpected shock causing him to let go. Nox shoved herself away. "I'm not that kind of damsel, fuckers."

Angel glanced down at the ground. Dust particles and dirt clumps were rising into the air. "We really should be getting to that world before this one becomes a ball of ash."

The Superior took note of Angel's words, but he didn't move. Then, he thrust out his hand, knocking both Lloyd and Nox aside with powerful force. "Alright. Let's get moving. Experiment 117, stay here and make sure they don't follow us. When this world is gone, join us."

Etrius's eyes were barely open as he watched the Superior and Arthur vanish in a flash of blue light. Angel was still with them, but he wasn't worried about her. She could teleport herself and follow the Superior with the kind of power she held. But he was worried about what her future held. What she would do when the Superior had taken over everything.

The world was silent as it came apart. Etrius felt weightless, as if he were lingering somewhere outside of his body. But he wasn't sure if it was the pain causing that, or the effects of the world coming undone.

His ears picked up shouting in the distance.

"Over there! This way!" Running footsteps. Silhouettes moving through the forest.

Angel's boot stepped in front of Etrius, power coursing through her.

Etrius didn't know what to think. Whoever was in the forest, he knew it wasn't the Author. It wasn't The General. Everyone died. And soon, so would he and his team.

"Angel, stop!" He didn't recognize the voice. Before his vision shut down, he took notice of a swishing tail.

Blue watched the events play out from within the forest. Misty and Dan were slowly making their way towards Angel and the team. The General remained in the forest, hiding behind another tree with his gun drawn. Not like it would do much good. Blue saw the team strewn out on the rising ground, and her heart lurched at the sight. _I thought I told that piece of shit not to get near them..._

The General saw his team, then exchanged glances with Blue. He gave a silent shake of his head. Blue wasn't sure if it was in disappointment, or a gesture for her not to blow their cover.

"What... What did you call me?" Angel was at a loss as she stared at her two friends in disbelief. "Wait.. Why didn't you go with him? I thought you were out of this realm already!"

"Angel, let them go." Misty raised a cautious hand as she approached Angel. Behind her back was the crystal. "You don't belong with the Superior. You don't belong with us." She gestured to Nox and Lloyd, who were slowly recovering. "You belong with them. _This_ is where you came from."

"What? I... No. No, that's not possible... I was created in The Superior's lab. I don't remember any life here."

Dan closed his eyes, relinquishing a sigh. He had to tell Angel. About what he knew. "You had a life here once. The Superior took your memories and replaced them with false ones. This is your home, Angel."

"My name isn't Angel."

"Yes, it is!" Misty shouted, on the verge of tears. "You name is _not_ Experiment 117. It's Angel. He took your memories, just like he did to me. I don't have a place I can go back to, but you do." Closing the distance between them, Misty pulled Angel into an embrace, making sure the crystal was making contact with her. "You just have to accept it."

Light flashed behind Angel's eyes, leaving purple afterimages. She felt the cool power moving through the corridors of her mind, dissipating the false memories and releasing the old ones. The more the power worked through her, the more Angel realized the memories the Superior had given her... Were just false comforting. An excuse. Her eye color faded from the blood red into the familiar golden brown she'd seen in Lloyd's eyes. Angel collapsed to the floor on her knees, bringing up a tuft of grass. "Oh, god..."

The memories came rushing back to her. The years she'd spent with the team. Running through the hallways with Timber. Accidentally levitating furniture in Beecher's room while she slept. Training with Etrius.

Lloyd and Nox.

Them leaving and going out into the forest with Etrius to train.

The helicopters.

Being yanked away from Etrius.

Stone walls.

Endless days of isolation.

Something foreign forced into her system.

The memories dissipating.

Angel braced her hands on the ground, but there wasn't much left to hold onto. Trees began to uproot themselves, chunks of stone flying into the sky. "Uncle Etrius... I'm sorry... I couldn't stop them."

Blue and The General exchanged glances, each sharing the same thought. They emerged from the trees, and Blue ushered The General to put his damn gun away.

Blue wanted to know how bad the team was, but she just felt so relieved when she saw the familiar light in Angel's eyes. She was kneeling down, sobs wracking her body. Blue knelt beside her, embracing her and holding her close. "It's okay, Angel. It's okay. Everything's going to be alright."

"Blue," Misty held out the crystal by the chain. Blue took the crystal, closing her hand around it's surface. She felt the power rush through her like an ocean wave, filling her every particle with light. She opened her eyes, feeling refreshed, almost reborn. She felt her control on the world again. Her world.

 _So much damage already..._ She shut her eyes, digging her fingers into the ground. Glowing blue roots extended out, snaking through the dirt. They covered endless miles, and light began to pulsate from the earth like a heartbeat. Angel watched in awe.

Blue commanded everything to come back together. Dirt and ashes rained down, becoming one with the ground again. Trees sprouted where they'd once been torn out.

When Blue opened her eyes, it was over. She stared at the sky, at the forest, at the trees. Everything was in tact.

Sighing in relief, she stood to her feet. She was already drained, and she had an entire team to heal. She wasn't sure she could do it alone.

It was now when she finally got a good look at Etrius.

He was in the worst shape. Claw marks ran the length of his body, bleeding through his rebel tee. His bones were broken and dislocated, his skin pale from the blood loss. His eyes were shut, his breathing shallow, if present at all. "Oh God, Etrius..." Blue knelt by his body, her hands hovering over his trembling form as he slipped away. She shut her eyes and tried to call upon the newfound power inside of her. But she was drained from bringing her world back together. She let out a pent up breath, looking down at her useless hands. "I'm sorry..."

Footsteps resounded behind her, and Angel emerged into her peripheral vision. She knelt beside Blue, shutting her eyes and holding his hands in hers. Soft blue light radiated from her fingertips, spreading up his arms through his veins. Etrius's wounds began knitting themselves together, but it wasn't enough. Angel let go with a pent up breath. "I'm not strong enough... I haven't healed _anything_ in so long..."

Blue bit the inside of her cheek. _That_ was the Superior's fault.

She heard The General reload his caliber behind her. "I'm not one for sitting and wallowing in self pity. The Superior _is_ going to pay for this."

Blue closed her hands into fists so hard her nails broke skin. "I don't even want to _think_ about how he'll be punished anymore. I just want him erased." Blue stretched her hand out beside her, and wheeled stretchers materialized from the air, molding into something solid. "Come on. Let's get them back inside and get them medical attention. We'll think about the Superior and my world later."


	24. Chapter 23

Blue remained in the infirmary for as long as she could hold herself together, watching the soft rise and fall of Etrius's chest. Angel had recovered enough to heal the team, but Etrius needed longer to heal the internal wounds. She bit her lip, wondering when he would wake up. Wondering what the Superior would do to her world. What he would do with her power. _His_ power.

 _Will the power even work in my world?_ She had to hold onto that sliver of hope, even if it was wishful thinking. She buried her face in her hands. The most powerful characters she'd ever written were fragile glass beneath the Superior's power.

The glass doors slid open, and footsteps emerged into the room. Blue's eyes flicked up, seeing Beecher enter the infirmary with a smoking cigarette between his lips, completely disregarding the _"No Smoking"_ sign. His bones were healed, save for several cuts and blackened bruises. He noticed the war raging in Blue's eyes. He sighed, relinquishing cigar smoke. "Blue. I don't know what to tell you."

Blue ran her hands through her hair. "I shouldn't have given him the fucking power... Hell, I _wrote_ that son of a bitch. I should've known he would do something like this... God, _what was I thinking?!_ "

Beecher raised a brow. "When you created him, weren't you-?"

Blue shook her head before he could finish. "I didn't create everyone here."

Beecher froze, his gaze unnerving. "What? You-" He couldn't find the words.

"I didn't create you, but I picked up you and your world when no one else did. Years ago." Her words were directed at Beecher, but her eyes were on Etrius. "But that doesn't matter right now. What does, is that there are others in my world who have touched this world as well. The only hope we have is that they'll stop him. Or at least, weaken him until I get there."

Blue leaped to her feet, energy coursing through her. "I'm not going to just sit here while shit happens to my world. I have power, even if it's not as much as before. I'm going to stop him, or die trying."

Beecher followed Blue as she made her way to the weapons barracks. He didn't have to tell her where it was. She knew the way. Beecher looked as though he wanted to protest, but he didn't know what to say. Etrius would've been screaming for her to stop. For once, he needed his stubbornness.

Blue found Lloyd in the armory, brooding. When he saw Blue enter the room, he knew immediately what she was doing. He approached her, standing in the space between the armory and Blue. "Blue, the Superior has your power. He'll kill you-"

"Yeah? Who's fault is that?" Blue pressed, more forcefully than she meant to. But she couldn't stop herself. "If I hadn't fucking written you the way I did, none of this would've happened!" Blue didn't know who she was blaming. Lloyd, or herself. She pushed past him, arming herself to the teeth, even though she knew it would be useless against the Superior's power.

Lloyd seized her shoulder. "Blue, I can't let you do this!"

Blue jerked out of his grip. She couldn't stand his grip. His proximity. "Don't fucking tell me I can't do this! _This was all your fault_!"

Suddenly, The General was between them, shoving both his hands out. "Stop this, both of you! Arguing won't get us anywhere!"

Blue's eyes darkened. "No. I'm leaving. And as for _you_ -" she pointed at Lloyd. "I'm erasing you from existence when this is over."

Lloyd stared at her. "You can't do that!"

"You deserve it, Lloyd. I'd taken pity on you before. I gave you a future, I took you out of that nightmare hell you were stuck in. Fuck, I even brought your comrades back from the grave to make you happy. To make you stronger. And you still make the same. Fucking. Mistake."

Lloyd looked as though he wanted to argue back, but he was at a loss for words. "If you do this... You'll be rewriting everything. Angel would never have existed."

"True. And I don't care. Nobody will ever remember your existence. I'll bring Angel back into this story some other way. Nox was with Boomer first, but then I changed it and brought _you_ into the picture. Nox belongs with Boomer. Not you. Never you."

Lloyd felt enraged. He felt useless and there was nothing he could do about it. Trying to argue was like trying to change the past. He couldn't convince a creator to change their mind. He bowed his head, his eyes shadowed as he ground his teeth.

Blue turned her back to him. "Stay here. We're going into the Waking Realm to fix your mistake." She turned back to face him with fire in her eyes. "Enjoy your existence while you still have it. You're lucky I'm not sending you someplace worse."


	25. Chapter 24

Angel used her recovered power to tear open a portal between dimensions. It was large enough for a chopper to fit through. The team rushed to gather their supplies and get through the portal before it closed. Blue could only stare transfixed at the rift. A tap at her shoulder told her it was time to go.

Blue climbed into Plisskin's chopper, the scarlet lighting causing purple afterimages to dance behind her eyes. Plisskin sat in the cockpit, monitoring the controls and getting ready for flight. Blue could feel the vibrations beneath her feet as the engine worked, and the rotors spun. Plisskin glanced over his shoulder at Blue. He smiled, but didn't speak. Blue wasn't sure if he was telling her that flying in a chopper wasn't as frightening as it seemed, or if he was searching for a sign that her world wouldn't be as bad as the castles.

Blue smiled back, but it felt forced. She actually didn't know what to expect when they crossed the threshold, and entered her world. She just hoped the Superior hadn't done too much damage, although deep inside she knew it probably wasn't true.

The chopper raised itself into the air, tree leaves whirling around the base. Blue held into the chopper railing, staring outside as Plisskin gradually moved the chopper towards the blue celestial light. Blue stared transfixed at the portal. She remembered seeing the shimmering glow in the series, but it dulled in comparison to witnessing it's ethereal light this close. Plisskin gave no reaction. Probably because he'd flown through it countless times Blue couldn't understand how someone could become jaded to this.

The fractured cobalt light washed over them, radiating out like white flower petals. Then, she saw destruction.

"Are those... Evils?" She watched the ruined suburbs below them as humanoid creatures tore through homes and construction, knocking over power lines and blowing up transformers. Blood lined the streets of the world. Her world. She shut her eyes, hoping everyone she knew was safe.  
In a way, she felt responsible for this. The Superior's motives were of her creation, and her world was ruined because of him. She could no longer blame her characters for the destruction, if she didn't create them in the first place.

"Blue?" Beecher's voice sounded behind her, but Blue didn't turn to look at him.

"I'm fine." She said bitterly. "Where are we? I don't recognize this area."

"I brought us as close to the Superior as possible," Angel's eyes were set alight. "Your world isn't much different from ours. He's in Washington, grabbing power from the source."

Blue let this sink in. He didn't wait before establishing his domination. Everything was happening too fast.

Etrius saw the chaos unfolding in her eyes. He approached her. "Blue-" He didn't know what to say to her.

Blue sighed. "Let's just find the Superior and hope for the best. If we can take him down, there's a chance I can fix this mess."

" _If_ we can take him down." Boomer stared at Blue's world from the chopper window. "I've never seen any world like this before."

"That's because we lived in a resource-deprived, war-torn wasteland, Boomer." Beecher responded, but Boomer's attention shifted away from him. His eyes were focused on the storage area, where extra crates of weapons and supplies were stacked and little light was shed.

Etrius noticed the focused look on Boomer's face. "Boomer?"

Blue followed his gaze, staring at the storage area. Her heart pounded, beating against her rib cage. Her blood turned to ice.

Without warning, Boomer tore from his seat and grabbed a crate. He hurled it to the side, causing the chopper to tilt slightly.

Lloyd rose from his hiding position. His sword flashed as he held it to Boomer's throat, but after seeing it was his team member, he sheathed it. "You don't always have to be so brutal, Boomer."

" _Lloyd_?" Blue laughed, but the sound was far from amused. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Lloyd's eyes were steady as they assessed her. "This is my mess. I'm going to fix it."

"No you're fucking not." Blue wagged her finger. "This is _my_ mess, not yours."

"It _is_ my mess because the Superior wouldn't have found us if I just waited longer."

"It's _my_ mess because I wrote you the way I did!"

Etrius stepped between the two. He glared daggers at Lloyd. "Now is _not_ the time to fight over this bullshit. Lloyd's here. Big fucking deal. Let's just get rid of the Superior!"

Blue pulled her lips back into a distasteful grimace. "Fine." Her voice was acidic, putting Lloyd's teeth on edge.

The rest of the chopper ride was spent in silence. Lloyd stared out the chopper window at Blue's world with interest. Once towering and majestic buildings and homes were decimated, freaks weaving in between the destruction and praying on whoever was left. His grip tightened on his sword. He wanted to throw himself from the chopper and help these people from another world. But they had to get to the Superior first. Everyone else could hold out until they fixed this. A sense of dread and apprehension plummeted inside him.

"How could he have done so much damage?" Blue made her way past the team towards the back of the chopper, and tapped on the wall. A hidden screen flipped out, and Blue's fingers flew across the keyboard. Plisskin stared in disbelief through the domed windshield reflection. "How the hell..." Not even he knew that existed.

Blue opened a newsbroadcast page and zoomed in on the first image. It was the Superior. Standing in front of the White House with his usual sick grin. The former president lay dead at his feet.

"Teh. Serves him right." Blue muttered.

Etrius frowned. "What?"

"Nothing. It's no wonder he caused so much destruction. He took over the governments system in your universe. Now he's doing the same thing here. He's tipped the balance. Made other countries go to war with each other. Fed off their money and power." She frowned. "Not like he's the first to do it, anyways." She turned to Plisskin. "Washington DC. Do you have enough fuel to get us there?"

Plisskin frowned at her through the reflection. "We can't take a plane? That's a seven hour flight."

Blue crossed her arms. "The airport terminals are either closed down or destroyed. And I can't afford eight fucking tickets."

Boomer was leaning against the chopper's wall, brooding. "Creators shouldn't be poor."

"Well, my world's pretty fucked up. Same as yours was, actually. Now let's get this done."


	26. Chapter 25

Blue didn't need coffee to stay awake as Plisskin's chopper hovered over the ruins of the heart of D.C. The sun was setting over the horizon, casting the ruined city in a haze of blood-red scarlet light.

The White House was coated in a layer of dirt and blood, whether from humans or Evils, Blue didn't want to know.

Angel was beside her, gazing at the destruction with nothing in her eyes. Blue didn't have to take a wild guess to know this didn't faze her. She'd probably been forced to do worse things while under the Superior's watch. Angel curled her hand into a fist. "I can get inside. He doesn't know that I have my memories back. I can trick him, I can-"

"Angel, you can't do this alone." Nox said bluntly, baffled. Months ago, she'd been trying to keep Angel from the violence and fighting. And now, she was running into the danger by herself.

Angel whirled around and faced the team with a fire in her eyes they hadn't seen before. And Blue didn't create it. "I am a hardcore fighting war machine. I _can_ do this!"

Lloyd shut his eyes and grimaced. "The Superior turned you into this."

Angel ground her teeth, struggling to draw breath through her anger. Realizing she was enacting Lloyd's words, she forced herself to relax. "It doesn't matter. His creation will be his downfall. Besides, I'm still myself. Nothing's changed. I'll do anything to get rid of the Superior! _Look what he did to us_!" Her words lingered in the chopper, but nobody responded.

Blue gripped her shoulder, then exchanged glances with Nox. "You're both right. Angel can deliver the final blow, but you need us all to get you inside. No doubt the place is crawling with Evils. Besides," She glanced at the team with a sly smile. "It'll be awesome to kill some freaks with the team."

"This is where you guys get off," Plisskin spoke up, hovering above the courtyard near the building. It was the only area not infested with evils. "Go kick some ass."

Beecher kicked down a rope, and the team slid down until touched earth soil. Beecher unhooked his sniper from his back strap, holding it in front of his chest as he followed Etrius, wielding two of his own Uzis. Blue couldn't help but notice how different they looked in this world. Their metal has a more sheen reflective surface, emitting a red-ish hue in the sunlight.

Boomer took down the few evils guarding the entrance of the white-house, empty shells raining from his shotgun, ringing in Blue's ears. He kicked down the door, and the team hurried inside.

It was dark. The lights flickered, and the growls of evils resonated through the darkness. Blue gagged at the stench. She'd never smelled so much blood. If Etrius was fazed by it, he didn't show it. The light of his firing guns ignited the darkness, claws and teeth flashing out.

Soon, the evils were dead... Mostly in limbo. And the team was running through empty, blood and gore stained hallways. Blue tried numbing herself to everything around her, but she just wanted all of this to be over. Then, she heard it.

Shouts. Coming from another hallway. The team stopped and exchanged glances.

Etrius frowned. "We have to keep moving. Whoever's still alive has to wait until we fix this."

"There won't be anyone left alive when - _if_ we come back!" Beecher dejected.

"Blue will fix this, and everyone will be alive again. End of story." Boomer finalized.

Blue tried listening to the shouts, but she could barely make out the words over the team's arguing. "Everyone, shut up!" She listened closer. "I recognize that voice...! Guys, let's go." She began down the hallway she heard the shouting from. The team stood still in confusion before following her quickly.

Blue pushed past a door hanging on it's hinges, revealing a spiral staircase leading down into the dark. Quickly, she descended the steps two at a time. Beecher's grumbling echoes behind her, letting her know the team was closeby. It eased her racing heart.

Soon, the staircase ended in a vast series of prison cells and isolation chambers. Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach. "What the hell is this?"

" _Hello_!?" The voice shouted again. Blue knew exactly who it was. There was no mistaking it. She quickened her pace, coming to a stop at a final corridor with a lone isolation chamber. Six people remained still inside.

The one who had shouted was pacing the length of the chamber, restless.

"Jeise." Blue whispered. She recognized the rest of them. Astron, Karly, Leo, Brad, and Halley. Her breath was stolen from her. She'd finally seen her online friends in front of her, and she couldn't have been more angry. The Superior had taken anyone who had ever touched the Castle universe. Whether he was planning on execution, or using their dormant power, she didn't know. And she didn't care. Because right now, they were busting out of here.

"Guys?" Blue approached the chamber, gripping one of the bars.

Jeise froze at the sight of Blue. Then, she unleashed a joyful squeal. "Tell me this isn't really happening!"

Karly unpeeled herself from the wall, her eyes staring at Blue. "Blue? I thought he killed you..."

Blue ground her teeth. She couldn't stand to see artists locked away like this. She turned to Etrius. "Can you pick the lock?"

Wordlessly, Etrius knelt down and began working through the lock. Halley stared in wonder as the rest of the team arrived. "Woah... They're real."

Blue embraced and counted each one of them. They were short on people. "Someone's missing..." She felt a sinking feeling inside her. "Where's Oscar?"

A tense silence fell in the space between them. Etrius frowned, his eyes scanning the floor. "That name sounds familiar."

When nobody answered, Blue filled in the blank. "He's dead..." She whispered.

"He's the first one the Superior got rid of." Leo sighed.

Brad curled his hands into fists. "Blue, he's gone insane. He never stops eating power!"

Blue felt her heart plummet to her feet at the realization. She shut her eyes and ground her teeth together, forcing herself to hide any remorse with determination. With her eyes in shadow, she swore, "I'll stop him. I promise. He's not going to live without paying for this."

Feeling an overwhelming rage, and without knowing it's origin, Beecher demanded, "Where is he?"

"Upstairs," Astron breathed. "Oval Office." Astron turned to Blue, eyes stirring with something undecipherable. "Blue, let them go on their own." She gestured to the team. "He'll kill you on sight when he sees you!"

Blue bit her lip, shaking her head. "I have to stay with them. I'm the only one who can stop him. His evil was my creation. I can undo his existence." Her eyes met Nox's. "And I made a promise. One that I will never break."


	27. Chapter 26

"Boomer, you got any more explosives?"

Boomer smirked. "Enough to blast us out of here."

Angel scanned the nearby walls with a scanner built into her watch, one that Dan had built for her. She stopped at a corner. "Here. There's a tunnel system that'll lead five miles from this place."

Blue's eyebrows knitted together as she watched the gang. "Will you guys be alright?"

Brad was too busy glaring daggers at Lloyd, and Karly was practically dragging herself out of the cell, head lolled back as she groaned in protest. "I can barely do a push-up, you want me to walk five miles?" Blue covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. Then she realized. She hadn't laughed in so long.

Astron pulled Blue into a final embrace. "Just kick that bastard Joe's ass."

Blue smiled. "Oh, he's going to be getting much worse than that."

Etrius raised a brow. "Who's Joe?"

Blue and Astron froze. "Uhh- no one important."

Boomer knelt by the wall and primed his explosives. Everyone stepped back. _Really stepped back_. Karly was recording this on her phone. Blue stared at her. "You had your phone this whole time?"

Karly smirked. "If my teachers couldn't find it, neither can the Superior. Besides, there's no service down here."

The sudden detonation made the ground tremble beneath them, vibrations traveling up the soles of their feet. Thick smoke clogged the air.

Angel was right. Through the sizzling hole that Boomer's explosives had created, a single long tunnel stretched out, a light source at the end. It reminded Blue eerily of the time when Lloyd first shared his past with Nox.

Boomer struck a torchlight against the wall, it's scarlet light casting long dim shadows along the walls. Jeise took the torch and led the way.

"Everyone, go! Now!" Beecher pointed towards the light.

Blue watched as the creators made their way towards the light, while she and the team remained in the shadows, preparing to fight the Superior one final time. Boomer noticed the crestfallen look in Blue's eyes, but he said nothing.

Blue sighed. "Alright. Let's go. Whether this battle means the death of us, we'll die saving our worlds."

Etrius raised a brow. "That's not what you told the rest of them."

Blue steeled herself. "That's not what they need to know. I just need them to live so they can carry on our role as Artists. If nobody's around to remember the castle world, it's going to disappear altogether. I can't risk them coming with us."

The team darted through the rapidly decaying hallways. Blue's heart was in her throat. She could feel the Superior's presence drawing closer, and she was sure the dark energy he omitted would give her nightmares for weeks. That is, if she lived to sleep again.

But the close proximity of the team gave her confidence, made her feel safe even though she knew they were all in danger.

Soon, blackened fog began to secrete from the windows and vents, spilling onto the floor like water. It felt colder than ice, and Blue's toes instantly numbed. She remembered describing the mist in her stories, and seeing it in the animation, but feeling it firsthand was the most sickening feeling she'd ever felt. It wasn't mist. It was pure evil.

The General's running pace slowed to a limp, and he collapsed to his knees, groaning. The team skidded to a halt and glanced back. The General was holding his head, eyes squeezed shut, appearing oblivious to his surroundings. He looked like he was fighting an internal battle. "Go..." He grunted.

Beecher looked concerned for the first time, and Lloyd darted back to him. "What's happening?" His eyes scanned the black mist around them, swirling towards The General, as if attracted to his presence.

"Lloyd-" Nox started with shaky breath. "Be careful!"

Boomer aimed his shotgun at the mist surrounding them, although he wasn't sure what good it would do.

The General's breath quickened. "Lloyd..." His strained, agonizing tone was descending into something dark. Ominous. Hungry. "Get away..."

Lloyd's brows creased together, and he gripped The General's shoulders. "What?"

"RUN!" The usual light blue spark in his eyes was gone. In it's place was darkness. A darkness that only Lloyd recognized. And he prayed he would never see it again.

Lloyd's eyes widened as he stumbled back. "Oh, god-!"

The General ground his teeth, growling in a tone he hadn't heard him use in years. "You're mine, swordsman." He whipped out his magnum caliber, aiming directly at Lloyd's heart. "Dead or alive."

Two gunshots fired in unison.

The first one bounced off the translucent shield Angel had summoned around Lloyd. The second came from Beecher's sniper, sending the bullet straight up the magnum's chamber and causing it to explode in The General's hand.

Furious, The General pushed past Lloyd and started for Angel. Lloyd unleashed a scream of rage, grabbing his arms and swinging him back. The General grabbed Lloyd's sword from his sheath, hurling it into the mist.

Beecher aimed his sniper again, intending to shoot The General, regretting not doing it back in the castle. But he couldn't get a clear shot at The General without hitting Lloyd. He cursed himself. "We don't have time for this!"

"The mist is bringing out our darkest parts," Blue whispered. "We need to leave before it does the same to the rest of us!"

Lloyd growled as he wrestled with The General, who was eerily stronger than the last time they'd fought. "Everyone, go! I'll take care of this."

"Lloyd, I'm not-" Etrius shouted through gritted teeth before Beecher put a hand on his shoulder. The pained look in his eyes told him they needed to hurry. Already he could start feeling the effects of the black mist seeping into him.

Lloyd glanced back at Blue with a smile. "Besides, it's time to repay my debt."

Beecher grasped Blue's shoulder. "Let's go!"

Blue hesitated for a moment before following the rest of the team. Angel's feet carried her through the hallways, but her soul remained with Lloyd.

The General saw the others leaving and darted after them, but Lloyd help him back. "You're not going anywhere, bitch."

The General shrugged him off, glaring at him with evil colliding intentions.

Lloyd rolled out of the way from another attack, retrieving his sword from the shadows. He whirled around to face The General, the black mist swirling around their feet. If he was going to die, he would die protecting his brothers. "Alright, Creticus. Derek Frank. The General. Got time for one last dance?"


	28. Chapter 27

Everything happened in a blur. From finding the other world Creators, to the black mist, to The General and Lloyd getting left behind, to being right behind the door the Superior was in. Blue struggled to control her breath. If they fucked this up, both worlds would fall into the hands of the Superior.

The Superior was there. A hundred feet away. Inside the Oval Office.

Beecher turned to the team. "We send Angel inside. She's the only one who can subdue him long enough for Blue to erase him."

Blue barely registered his words. Her mind was still mulling over the images of the past 5 minutes. The General changing back to what he was before. The darkness in his eyes. Lloyd staying behind so the rest of them could continue. Even now, the black mist was swirling around their feet, rippling like waves. It was growing stronger. They couldn't hesitate anymore.

Nox embraced Angel as if for the last time. Angel struggled to show emotion, but Blue could practically feel her heart wrenching inside.

The rest of the team ran for cover behind toppled furniture while Angel summoned her power, willing it to slither into her hands, keeping it hidden inside so the Superior couldn't see. She prepared herself to face the Superior. Repeating words that she'd internally rehearsed. She could only hope the Superior would believe her. Let her get close enough. Then attack.

Beecher readied his sniper. Boomer, his shotgun. Nox, her sword. Blue, her stomach.

Angel reached for the doorknob.

Instead, the door burst open, crashing into her.

Blue's heart skipped a beat.

The Superior stood on the other side, black mist billowing around him, his eyes glowing red. His teeth were almost sharp as he gave a smile through the darkness. He looked like a monster.

Angel pushed the door off her, raising her hands in front of her. "Stop! What are you doing?"

The Superior cocked his head.

Angel straightened and approached him. "The team is dead. And so is the Creator. We can finally rule this world." She smiled, even though it sickened her.

Blue watched the events unfold from behind the shattered glass of toppled furniture, not giving away her cover. This plan reeked of failure. But they didn't have another choice.

The Superior smirked, and the satisfaction in his eyes made Angel's stomach churn. She wondered how the hell she believed anything this man had to say to her.

"Good girl," He extended his arms for an embrace, and when Angel didn't move, he yanked her close and gave her a crushing hug that even Boomer couldn't do. "But, there's just one more thing you should know." He pressed his lips to her ear, whispering. His mouth pulled back into a smile. "I know they're not dead."

In one swift movement, he seized Angel's throat in a vice-like grip, raising her off the ground. Angel struggled and kicked, but it was no use.

"PLAN B, ATTACK!" Etrius shouted, aiming his pistol straight at The Superior's head. The Superior swiped a hand in front of him, stopping the bullet in his tracks. Beecher's pupils dilated as he witnessed this. He remembered what The General did, years ago, and immediately darted for Etrius, bringing him to the floor as the Superior launched the bullet in their direction. Nox took the distraction to her advantage, charging towards the Superior with her sword drawn.

Blue's heart was curling inside itself as she watched her characters fight. Usually she trusted them. She knew they would live. But not against the Superior. He had her power. The power to erase them.

Nox swung from the front, but the Superior grabbed the blade with his bare hands. Boomer took him from the back, burying shotgun bullets into his spine. The Superior hissed and collapsed to his knees, dropping Angel. Angel kicked him away, putting distance between herself and him.

The Superior healed inhumanely quickly, grounding his teeth together. But his eyes grew red and weary. Blue watched carefully. Using so much power was tiring him. He was so hungry for power, he didn't know when to stop.

His hands writhed with shadows that glowed white light. "It was a mistake to let you die with your world," He growled at them, rising back to his feet. "So now, you will have the honor of dying in your _creator's_ world. Now, vanish!"

He raised a blazing hand, blinding light radiating out.

Blue's blood froze. "No!" She ground her teeth and thrust her hands out, trying to create a protective bubble around the team. Trying to stop the Superior from erasing the characters. Even if they didn't belong to her, they were _hers_. Her heart and soul.

Light glazed the room, filling every corner, setting alight every particle. Etrius gazed back at Blue with somber eyes, the color fading to gray. Blue tried to scream, but she couldn't utter a sound.

Then, the light retreated back into his hand. The room was empty, save for the Superior and Blue. Blue dropped to her knees, arms hugging her sides. She felt cold and empty inside. The team was gone.

Erased.


	29. Chapter 28

Blue was deathly silent as the Superior approached her. But he didn't use the power to erase her, too. He didn't laugh. Declare his victory.

Instead, he knelt down to her level, forced her to face him, and whispered calmly. "You should've died in the world you created, Blue." His eyes burned holes into her. "Now watch your home-world burn."

"HEY!" A boot was thrown across the room, striking the side of his head. Enraged, The Superior whirled around to see the creators dash into the room. Karly had a missing boot. "I don't think so, bitch!"

The Superior roared like a tiger, his eyes red and aflame. Karly's hands fell to her sides. "Oops."

"Guys, no!" Blue struck her hands out, hurling the Superior across the room. Out of breath from the exertion, she turned to face them with a haggard expression. "Get out of here!"

Brad curled his hands into fists. "To what? Leave you to fight alone and die?"

"Yes!"

By now, The Superior had hurled off chunks of debris from his fallen form, his lips curled back in a snarl. He took a step towards Blue, limped, and collapsed to his knees. He was still recovering.

Jeise ran to stand by Blue, followed by the others. "We're not leaving. Creators stick together. Especially when your characters rage out of control and take over your home world as a tyrant."

Astron jumped in place with fists clenched, obviously excited to do something. "Great. So how do we use these powers to kill this guy?"

The Superior was recovering. He was closing the distance between them. Blue had to think fast. She turned to her own team, an ache in her heart at the missing presence of Etrius and the others. But she couldn't let that distract her. "Everyone, dig deep and tap into your power. The power you used to create their world. Even if you didn't create it. Even if you watched from afar, you still have that power within you."

Jeise stared at Blue, stumped. "wut?"

The Superior had fully recovered and began charging at Blue, a hand reaching for her.

"Just geek out!" Blue blurted.

Something awakened inside Brad. With a shout, he thrust his hands forward, and white light radiated, shooting towards the Superior. The Superior gave an angry cry and swiped his hands through the air, knocking the power aside. He stared at his glowing hands. "That was easy."

As if coming to understanding, Karly smirked. She darted towards the other end of the room, power coursing through her arm and blasting at the Superior. The rest of the Creators did the same, circling him from all angles. Blue watched in amazement. They learned so much faster than she did. She bit her lip and readied herself. She would only have one shot at this.

The Superior screamed out his frustration, arms lashing out against the blinding light. The Creators had him pinned in place. Smoke began rising from his skin, steaming through his clothes and hair. His angry shouts turned into screams of agony, and Blue stifled down any remorse she felt for him. He'd almost destroyed the second world she lived in. He ruined Angel's life, tore Nox and Lloyd apart. He erased- no, he _killed_ her characters. And he was going to pay.

As the Superior collapsed to his knees, he stared up at Blue with bloodshot eyes, trembling with anger. Blue closed her fingers into a fist, and a knife materialized into her hands. The blade tip was fused with obsidian. Not enough to affect her, but enough to mortally wound the Superior if she thrust it into his heart. He would live with the pain for all eternity once she was through with him.

"You'll hurt this world no more. You will cause damage no more! You're dead to me!" She raised the blade, preparing to sink it into his heart. Preparing to put an end to this.

Instead, The Superior grabbed one of the light blasts from Karly's end. He yanked on it like a rope, tugging it towards his chest. Karly lost her grip and collapsed forward. The sudden movement was enough to distract the others, and the light snuffed out like a candle wick.

Blue's breath froze inside her. The Superior smiled and stood to his shaking feet. Even weakened, he towered over her. He seized her throat, eyes crazed with power. "You're coming with me."

"No!" Jeise darted towards the two of them, but the Superior disappeared in a gust of wind, bringing Blue with him. Brad grabbed at the air where they last stood, but it was futile. He curled his hands into fists, shoulders heaving with every breath. Karly shut her eyes and cursed herself for letting the Superior get away. Astron only prayed that Blue would return, and the Superior would meet his fate.

Blue felt like she was hurled from a moving car, and she collapsed onto cold stone floor, rolling until she came to a stop. Limbs and joints aching, she slowly climbed to her feet and scanned her surroundings. It was dark like a solar eclipse, but there was an intense white noise in the air, and she could barely see her breath vaporizing. It was freezing cold, and it reminded her of the castle.

She felt cold breath tickle the nape of her neck. Whirling around, she came face to face with the Superior. He grabbed her neck and yanked her close, his body pressed against hers so she wouldn't move. Regardless, Blue still struggled. "Fuck you!"

The Superior's lips pulled back into a disgusting smile. He could feel the power radiating off her like heat. And he wanted it. "You're going to show me all your secrets."

"Yeah? I'm pretty sure you didn't hear _fuck you_!"

The Superior tilted his head to the side. "I could do that."

Blue's eyes narrowed. "I never wrote you this way." After a moment, the Superior's grip lightened, and Blue stepped back. "No, you went out of control when I lost control. You began feeling shit that I never allowed the other characters to feel."

The Superior licked his lips. "Everyone except Nox and Lloyd. I'll make you a deal. I'll bring them back, if you allow Nox to feel it for _me_."

Blue was shocked at his bargain, but she forced herself to hide any reaction. Instead, she had a better idea. She just hoped the Superior would fall for it.

She stepped closer and took his hands. The Superior raised a brow at the sudden gesture, but he said nothing.

Blue embraced her power... and then let it flow through him. Only a little bit at first.

The Superior shivered, exhilarated at the feeling of the power running through his veins.

Blue leaned in close and whispered to his ear. "I can give you more. I can give you everything." As she said this, she let more power drain into him. "There's so much you can do with the power. More than what you had planned."

All at once, multiple worlds opened up around them, time unraveling as she showed him everything else the universe had to offer. "You can take so much more. Your hunger doesn't have to end here."

Strings unwound themselves from the worlds's gateways, connecting into him. Light exploded from his eyes and mouth as the power filled him to his core. He collapsed to his knees, head tilted up and eyes taking in it all. "I want it."

Blue seized both sides of his head and pummeled more power into him. "No. You want more."

The light never dissipated, but he turned his gaze to Blue, utterly confused. "What?"

Blue forced every last inch of her power into him. She felt like a dried out towel, butter thinly spread on a piece of toast, but she was content. "You want so much power that it'll be the end of you. You're like a battery. Taking more and more until you can't take any longer. Well, welcome to breaking point."

Power surged through him, and the Superior screamed as he was overwhelmed. It was too much to take in. When Blue lost her strength, she stepped back to watch the rest unfold before her.

The Superior struggled and tried to put a cap on the power. It was filling him to the brim, stretching him out, tearing him apart, destroying him. His screams were the last thing she heard before the light completely overcame the darkness. Blue caught some of the light radiating off his fallen body, using it to whisk them back into her world.


	30. Chapter 29

All at once, the world tilted on it's axis, and time unraveled around her. Blue's eyes snapped open, and she was back in her world.

Eyes stared at her. Some in fear, shock. Some in amazement.

Shakily, Blue climbed to her feet. Her vision cleared, and she saw the rest of the Creators surrounding her. She blinked languidly. "Guys?"

At that one word, the girls squealed and overwhelmed her, rushing towards her and stealing her breath with crushing hugs.

"It's over!"  
"We're alive!"  
"He's dead!"

A wet cough.

Blue's blood froze, and she whirled around. The Superior's body writhed on the floor, blood seeping from the corners of his mouth. He braced his hands on the floor, trying to rise to his feet, but collapsed back down halfway. The Creators backed away and stared. Afraid of the man half dead. Afraid of the man who could conquer all worlds.

But Blue noticed something. With each cough, more blood spurted from his mouth. He wasn't healing. The glow in his eyes were gone. He was... mortal.

Blue glanced down at her own hands. They radiated soft light, spilling to the floor like water. Her eyes drifted back to the Superior. His fate rested in her hands. Her eyes darkened.

"Blue?" Jeise said after a moment of silence, approaching her from behind. "What do we do with him?"

Blue didn't respond. She was too busy thinking about all he had done. All the damage he'd caused. The lives he'd ruined. She approached him with heavy footsteps, extending her hand and raising him from the floor so he dangled in front of her. "He's going to face justice for what he's done. Death is too merciful." She created chains and shackled him down before letting him drop. He landed on broken legs and gave out a cry of agony. Blue felt no sorrow in her heart for this man. She pointed to the wall behind him, and a circular portal materialized in the wall. Darkness and fire spilled out. Her eyes were filled with wrath as she watched the Superior in silence. "Sionis Joe. I hereby sentence you to a fate worse than death."

The Superior smiled with his eyes closed, showing sharp teeth. "No prison walls can hold me. I'll be back. I'll take your power, and kill all of you. Nox will be mine. Angel will be mine. Your team will be my slaves to satisfy my every need, and my reign will be eternal!"

"The only thing eternal here is your punishment." Blue said, holding her anger in check. "There's no point in having hope for you. I understand that now. You'll never change. The chance you get it, you'll go back to your dark ways. There's nothing more for you here. In this world, or the next."

The Superior snarled. "I no longer want your worlds. I don't want your money. I'll kill you all, and your characters will be mine, even if it takes me a hundred years to do so!"

"Good," Blue took a step towards him. "Because you'll have even longer to think about that."

The Superior glanced back at the portal, then at Blue. His mocking laugh quickly turned nervous. "What are you gonna do?" He meant for it to sound like a challenge. "Kill me?"

"Kill you?" Blue echoed. "Oh, no. It's _not_ what you think." She raised her foot, driving the bottom of her boot against his chest, and sending him flying into the void. The last thing she heard was his burning screams before she quickly shut the portal.

Peace and silence returned.

The Creators stared in shock before whispering amongst each other. Blue continued to stare at the spot where the Superior had last been. But her mind was rampant. _Did I really do the right thing? I could've been at_ least _more merciful_. Then she remembered everything the Superior had done, and everything he intended to do, and thought better of it.

Then, she remembered something. "Lloyd."

Turning on her heels, she darted down the hallways, sliding to a stop where Lloyd lay in a pool of his own blood. The General was gone. Blue rushed to his side and collapsed to his knees. She prepared her healing powers-then stopped herself. She remembered the promise she'd given him. About how she would erase him once this was all over.

But now, looking into his dying eyes, seeing everything she'd sacrificed, she understood from his perspective. He'd been under pressure. Angel was taken, and she could've been dead for all he knew. If Blue were in his shoes, she would've made the same decisions. He was only human. Even if he was a character. And she understood the things people would do for the ones they love.

Lloyd coughed up blood, trying to speak, but Blue already knew what he wanted to say. She shook her head. "No. I'm not erasing you. Not after all this. Not when Angel finally remembers you." Her eyes narrowed. "From now on, I'm taking your ability to betray those closest to you. That's no longer an option for you, no matter what goes on in this team."  
White light radiated from her hand, forming into a white ribbon and coiling around Lloyd's wounds. Within minutes, the blood was cleared from his lungs, but she didn't completely heal his wounds. He would heal on his own.

Blue then shut her eyes and focused. When she opened them again, she explained to Lloyd, "Your team's waiting for you back in your world. Angel too." She knelt down and pressed her forehead against Lloyd's, further perpetuating the change she cast over him. "Now get out of here and don't come back. That's an order."

Lloyd's skin began to radiate white light, his physical body fading from this realm. Before he vanished, his hand searched for hers, and his eyes took in the creator for the very last time. "Here," He whispered, and Blue felt something cold and powerful in her hand. She glanced down at Lloyd's saber. He closed her hands around the hilt, then let his arms fall to his sides. "Thank you... For saving us..."

Lloyd's body was almost fully translucent by now. He numbly raised a hand in a still goodbye gesture, and then he was gone. Blue felt something inside of her shatter, but the tether was still there. The connection she had between this world and theirs. The sword would remind her of that connection. It would remind everyone of what has been, and what could be in the future.

Taking a breath, Blue slipped the blade into the empty sheath at her hip, then stood up and inspected the damage around her. She whirled around to face the other Creators, spreading her hands. "We're done. Let's fuckin' celebrate."

Karly scratched the back of her head and looked around her. "Umm, yeah. We should clean up first."


End file.
